Bio

Akiko Day was born in China to Japanese parents. She grew up in Japan, where she worked as a personal secretary to a college president.  She also taught Flower Arranging and Tea Ceremony.  She came to study in the United States in 1973 at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, where she received a BFA in Drawing and Prints, and later at the University of Kansas, where she received a BFA in Painting and an MA in Visual Arts Education.  Since then, she has painted images which blend Western and Japanese concepts and cultures.  Akiko Day’s acrylic paintings on canvas reflect her daily life in America, which she sees as full of youthfulness, intensity, humor and optimism.  Her figures on canvas have an expressive energy and movement that are caught in an instant of action, they are ready to leap from the canvas and land in your arms.

Akiko is currently working on her “America” Series, in which she hopes to capture the spectrum of humanity along with the grandeur and beauty of landscape in America.

Akiko has exhibited widely in solo and juried shows in Wisconsin, Kansas, New Jersey, and New York.  She has been the recipient of various awards.  Her works can also be found in private collections across the United States.