Sonoko Ito
"Christmas in Dessertia Town"

Sonoko Ito

Bambinart Gallery is pleased to announce the solo exhibition of Sonoko Ito "Christmas in Dessertia Town" from December 4 through 26.

Sonoko Ito (b. 1978) graduated from the Faculty of Education and Human Studies in Akita University. After that, she learned carving and modeling, receiving a master’s degree from the University of Tsukuba. During her master's years, she started making sculptures of apples, the main produce of Akita. These apples with hands or/and legs are named "Pomeri" (derived from "pomme", apple in French). There are many characters like the dog-apple clan, Hokujin, the God of goat-apple, and Koojah the traveler and they live in various imaginary towns like Miraia town, Holiber town and Pomeri town.
These characters are, of course, fictional; still, they live in a world with laughter and sadness much like the one we live in, and so become humanized as beings we could relate to.

This exhibition is set in "Dessertia Town" and also includes "Pomeri Cake" that was inspired by a lighthouse standing in a port town in Akita. In it figures Akita's cultural icons as well as Ito's childhood memories. Furthermore, the creams and apple-shaped windows also have separate names with their own unique story.

We will be showing sculptures, some reaching a meter in height, alongside paintings.