Akiko creates jewellery that clarifies and concentrates simple, delightful ideas by virtue of her extraordinary technical skill.
Akiko Kurihara's work is widely loved for its wit, ideas and fine craftsmanship. A keen observer of social constructs, physical systems, paradoxes and posibilities, Akiko creates jewellery that clarifies and concentrates simple, delightful ideas by virtue of her extraordinary technical skill. From rods that inexplicably hang upside down, pins with proud (and slightly ridiculous) erections, to necklaces that morph into mice once they leave your neck and rings that want to wear their own rings, Akiko's jewellery reveals an artist deeply thoughtful about the world around her, and the people in it.
She says, "I like to challenge myself to expand the possibilities of the jewelry, even if they are small objects. And I expect that humor and wit in my work would connect me to the person wearing my piece, as well as to people seeing the piece." This point of connection is key; the reason people are so drawn to Akiko's work is its universality, its familiarity and ability to speak without language. Akiko's work can express a riddle, curiosity or a one liner by way of a simple visual and/or mechanical gesture in a way that we immediately recognise and delight in.