Hanayo works between cultures – she juggles with various genres. In Japan, she trained to be a junior geisha she but is also active as a model, actress, musician and photographer. At the present, the artist lives with her daughter Tenko in Berlin. Fundamentally, her roots lie in photography. At the age of 13, Hanayo was given a camera as a present and since then she has built up a diverse archive comprised of many subjects. She aspires to the idea of a total and thorough art work, so her work as a musician cannot be separated or differentiated from her other activities.

The photographic works in the evn collection are to be seen in this light – a colourful mix of motifs, which closely reflect the wish to join the ordinary with the artificial, as seen from the artist’s point of view.

Hans Ulrich Obrist, 2005 (translation: Tim Sharp)