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Installation view from ““Festival MANAZURU sculpted Stones” at Manazuru, Kanagawa, Japan, 2022 ©︎Rieko Otake photo by Tadasu Yamamoto -
Installation view from ““Festival MANAZURU sculpted Stones” at Manazuru, Kanagawa, Japan, 2022 ©︎Rieko Otake photo by Tadasu Yamamoto -
Like a Dog 2021 wood (Katsura/ 桂 h.66.6 x w.14.6 x d.13.4 cm ©︎Rieko Otake -
Like a Doll 2021 wood (Katsura/ 桂 h.74.5 x w.14.9 x d.15.9 cm ©︎Rieko Otake -
Tears 2021 wood (Magnolia obovata/ 朴) h.41.8 x w.58.0 x d.18.5 cm ©︎Rieko Otake -
あなたはどこから来たの? Where do you come from? 2021 wood (Camphor/ 樟) h.216.5 x w.65.9 x d.65.3 cm ©︎Rieko Otake, photo by Hidehiko Omata -
Daughter 2021 wood (Camphor/ 樟) h.172.5 x w.56.1 x d.82.8 cm ©︎Rieko Otake, photo by Hidehiko Omata -
小さな人 Small Girl 2021 wood (Camphor/ 樟) h.99.2 x w.44.6 x d.37.6 cm ©︎Rieko Otake, photo by Hidehiko Omata -
Sisters 2021 wood (Camphor/ 樟) h.124.1 x w.58.0 x d.36.5 cm ©︎Rieko Otake, photo by Hidehiko Omata -
Like an Owl 2021 wood (Katsura/ 桂) h.53.4 x w.24.3 x d.16.0 cm ©︎Rieko Otake, photo by Hidehiko Omata -
魔法をかける 2021 wood (Cherry tree/ 桜) h.23.2 x w.9.5 x d.12.8 cm ©︎Rieko Otake, photo by Hidehiko Omata -
回転 Turning 2019 h.32.8 × w.24.0 × d.24.7 cm ©︎Rieko Otake -
Snow 2018 wood h.78.0 × w.18.0 × d.18.5 cm ©︎Rieko Otake -
ふたつの子ども double children 2017 h.98.0 × w.47.0 × d.40.0 cm wood ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Sculpture-anachronism and flash" at Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan, 2016 ©Rieko Otake photo by Hidehiko Omata -
Good night 2015 wood h.21 × w.7.5 × d.19 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Cat hat 2015 wood h.42.0 × w.22.5 × d.16.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Poodle 2015 wood h.33.5 × w.21.0 × d.14.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
鳥飼い Girl with her bird 2015 wood h.110.0 × w.43.0 × d.40.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Leg girl 2015 wood h.42.0 × w.10.0 × d.17.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Dance 2015 wood h.31.0 × w.58.0 × d.16.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
ピエロ Pierrot 2015 wood h.25.0 × w.4.5 × d.4.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
羊役 2 Sheep boy 2 2015 wood h.116.0 × w.34.0 × d.23.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Way in, or Out" at 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2015 ©Rieko Otake photo by Kenji Takahashi -
Installation view from "Way in, or Out" at 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2015 ©Rieko Otake photo by Kenji Takahashi -
Installation view from "Way in, or Out" at 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2015 ©Rieko Otake photo by Kenji Takahashi -
In the Pocket 2012 wood h.8.0 × w.10.0 × d.5.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
My Ghost 2012 wood h.26.5 × w.7.3 × d.7.7 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Hat Star 2012 wood h.41.0 × w.24.0 × d.15.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Somewhere 2012 wood h.64.0 × w.10.0 × d.18.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Dog’s Ear 2012 wood h.100.0 × w.65.0 × d.51.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
なみだ池 Tear Pond 2012 wood h.80.0 × w.124.5 × d.57.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
3本角 Three Horns 2012 wood h.150.0 × w.109.5 × d.40.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
In or Out 2012 wood h.214.0 × w.66.0 × d.78.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
ふたり Two 2012 wood h.30.0 × w.29.0 × d.19.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Perhaps, Mimi" at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2012 ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Perhaps, Mimi" at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2012 ©Rieko Otake -
room 2009 wood h.155.0 × w.270.0 × d.70.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
girl 2009 wood h.185.0 × w.50.0 × d.83.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
とりとり Tori Tori 2009 wood h.42.0 × w.39.0 × d.45.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
あこがれ Longing 2009 wood h.111.5 × w.20.0 × d.17.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Dreamlike" at Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto, Japan, 2009 ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Dreamlike" at Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto, Japan, 2009 ©Rieko Otake -
とりとり Tori-Tori 2008 woods h.39.0 × w.91.0 × d.15.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
とりとり Tori-Tori 2008 woods h.65.0 × w.109.0 × d.56.0 cm ©Rieko Otake -
とりとり Tori-Tori 2008 woods h.125 × w.22.5 × d.15 cm ©Rieko Otake -
とりとり Tori-Tori 2008 woods h.20 × w.11.3 × d.10.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
Installation view from "Tori-Tori" at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2008 ©Rieko Otake -
ピエロ Pierrot 2007 wood h.25.0 × w.11.0 × d.13.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
ママ Mama 2007 woods h.55.0 × w.12.5 × d.17.5 cm ©Rieko Otake -
へび snake 2006 wood h.31.0 × w.21.5 × d.17.0 cm ©Rieko Otake
Rieko Otake’s woodcarvings express such motifs as young girls, birds and deer and even while her work looks somewhat delicate and unstable at times, one senses a unique strength in its universal presence replete with grace. Otake consistently uses the wood of camphor, cypress, and katsura trees, working within a method of adding finishing touches to a foundation of non-colored wood. Approaching closer the works, one becomes aware of an unexpected vigor to the chisel marks. She is affected by the importance of the rhythm of the repeated carving motions: a sincere process of exchange as if the tree and one’s breathing might become joined together, so that the artwork appears as story replete with lyricism.
Rieko Otake was born in 1978 in Kanagawa Prefecture. In 2004 she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts’ Graduate School of Fine Arts, majoring in sculpture, and completed her PhD in 2007. Her works have been collected in the Takahashi and JAPIGOZZI Collections. As well as exhibiting in the show “As Long As Rainbow Lasts” (Soka Art Center, Taipei, 2011), she has also held four solo exhibitions at Tomio Koyama Gallery.
Solo Exhibitions
2021 | “Where do you come from?” Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
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2015 | “Way in, or Out” 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
2012 | “Perhaps, Mimi” Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
2009 | “Dreamlike” Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto, Japan |
2008 | “Tori-Tori” Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
Group Exhibitions
2022 | “Natural Function” Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan “Flower of Life” Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka, Japan |
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2021 | “Sculptures with the house” Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier, Tokyo, Japan “Festival Manazuru Sculpted Stones” Kanagawa, Japan “FLOWERS & BIRDS” Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
2020 | "CADAN Showcase 01 ‘NEWSPACE / NEWCOLLABORATION’" CADAN Yurakucho, Tokyo |
2019 | “Sculptures with the house” Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier, Tokyo, Japan |
2018 | “New Work From an Old Studio” Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier, Tokyo, Japan The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan “Contemporary Wood-Carved Netsuke” The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam |
2017 | “The Riddle of Art: Takahashi Collection Resonance or Repellence?” Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan “The Encyclopedia of Masamichi Katayama: Life is hard... Let's go shopping.” Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
2016 | “Sculpture-anachronism and flash” Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan |
2015 | “New Work From an Old Studio #10” Denchu Hirakushi house and atelier/ Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan |
2013 | “Ginza Mitsukoshi × Tomio Koyama Gallery Art Selection” Ginza Mitsukoshi 8th Floor Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
2012 | “Rieko Otake, Hideaki Kawashima, Naoki Koide” 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
2011 | “As Long As Rainbow Lasts” Soka Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan |
2009 | “SCULPTURE -BLUES & LOW BLOW” Chinretsukan Gallery, The University Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan |
2007 | “Sculpture from Stories” Chinretsukan Gallery, The University Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan |
2006 | “The 9th Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art” Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan |
2005 | “New Work From an Old Studio” Denchu Hirakushi house and atelier, Tokyo, Japan |
Public Collections
JAPIGOZZI Collection
Manazuru city, Kanagawa
Ryutaro Takahashi Collection

“Where do you come from?”
November 27 - December 25, 2021
TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY

“FLOWERS & BIRDS” Masako Ando, Koichi Enomoto, Suna Fujita, Heihachiro Fukuda, Yuichi Inoue, Hideaki Kawashima, Makiko Kudo, Masahiko Kuwahara, Shintaro Miyake, Yuko Murata, Yu Nishimura, Ellie Omiya, Rieko Otake, Yuko Someya, Kenzo Taruishi
July 16 - August 21, 2021
TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY

「Way in, or Out」
November 25 - December 14, 2015
8/ ART GALLERY/ TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY

“Perhaps, Mimi”
November 17 - December 15, 2012
TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY 7TH FLOOR

Group Exhibition “Rieko Otake, Hideaki Kawashima, Naoki Koide”
May 30 - June 25, 2012
8/ ART GALLERY/ TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY

“Dreamlike”
November 26 - December 26, 2009
TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY KYOTO

“Tori Tori”
January 12 - February 2, 2008
TKG CONTEMPORARY:TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY 6TH FLOOR

Group Exhibition “Natural Function” Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan
May 12 - May 23, 2022

【Now On View】 Group Exhibition “Flower of Life” Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka, Japan
April 23 - December 25, 2022

Group Exhibition “Sculptures with the house” Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier, Tokyo, Japan
November 5 - November 14, 2021

“Festival MANAZURU sculpted Stones” Manazuru, Kanagawa, Japan
November 1 - December 20, 2021

Group Exhibition “CADAN Showcase 01 ‘NEWSPACE / NEWCOLLABORATION’” CADAN Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan
July 17 - August 9, 2020

Group Exhibition “Sculptures with the house” Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier, Tokyo, Japan
November 7 - November 17, 2019

“Festival MANAZURU SCULPTED STONES” Manazuru, Kanagawa, Japan
September 20 - November 30, 2019

Group Exhibition “New Work from an Old Studio” Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier, Tokyo, Japan
November 16 - November 25, 2018

Event “Art for Gift” BOOK & GINZA ATRIUM, Tokyo, Japan
November 12 - December 25, 2018

Group Exhibition at The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan
November 1 - November 11, 2018

Group Exhibition “Contemporary Wood-Carved Netsuke” The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
January 26 - March 15, 2018

Group Exhibition “The Riddle of Art: Takahashi Collection Resonance or Repellence? ” Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan
December 23, 2017 - February 28, 2018

Group Exhibition [The Encyclopedia of Masamichi Katayama “Life is hard… Let’s go shopping.”] Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
April 8 - June 25, 2017

Group Exhibition “Sculpture-anachronism and flash” Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan
September 28 - October 10, 2016

Group Exhibition “As Long As Rainbow Lasts” Soka Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
April 30 - May 29, 2011

Group Exhibition “Sculpture: Blues & Low Blow” Chinretsukan Gallery, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan
August 8 - August 23, 2009