About Rica

Born in the Shinjuku neighborhood of central Tokyo, Rica Takashima graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music.  She founded Aozora Art/Blue Sky Art in 1994 which is a totally new concept in contemporary art, fusing "traditional" Japanese manga and Otaku culture with participatory art.  She uses extra thick black lines in her work, reminiscent of another traditional art form, Shodo Japanese Calligraphy, because she was born into a family of famous calligraphers and grew up in an artistic environment. 

Rica Takashima's work has been exhibited and produced around the world, including museum exhibitions at Aomori Museum of Art, Aomori, Japan and in front of Musée National Picasso, Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre in Paris. Solo exhibitions have included Celebrate Women! at Fort Lee Public Library Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Center, Object D'art Gallery, and Fujita Museum.  Some of her projects have had corporate support by companies such as Fuji Photo Film Co, Ltd., Seiko Epson Corp., Asahi Breweries Arts Foundation, and Takeo Co. 

Rica also exhibited Instant Gender, an art installation she created, at SCOPE New York and she has appeared in numerous magazine and newspaper articles around the world. She has published books and participated in publications including Rica 'tte Kanjis? a graphic novel illustrated and written by Rica Takashima, ALC Publishing, New Jersey, 2003, and Italian Version, REN Books, Bologna Italy in 2011.  It was the first English translated lesbian manga storybook in the world. She has appeared on Radio, TV, Video and Panel at the international manga conventions NY comic con, MangaNext, Yuricon and Yurisai.

Rica enjoys working with people which is why some of her projects are interactive public art and she has taught workshops involving her art at Aomori Art Museum, New York Public Library and The National Museum of Tokyo.  Her work appears in both public and private collections including the International Manga Museum, Kyoto, Japan.