Artist's Statement
Emiko Aida is a printmaker and painter from Jindaiji, Tokyo. She lives in London and is a member of Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and South Bank Printmakers. Her work is exhibited in galleries throughout the UK, USA and Japan and in many collections including the New York Public Library, USA and the Guangdong Museum of Art, China. She has been awarded a purchase prize from the 16th SPACE International Print Biennial in Seoul, Korea; Japan University’s Printmaking Purchase Prize; L`Escargot Restaurant Award from the Royal College of Art; the Nordstern Award from the Royal Academy of Arts; and Bankside Gallery’s Curwen Studio Award.
Her work is limited edition artist prints with aquatint technique. Its expression is the visual equivalent of the Haiku, the Japanese 17 syllable verse. Her artistic outpourings show a quest to return to her roots and compassion for humanity.
Aquatint is a printing technique similar to etching. In etching the metal plate is waxed and the image is drawn through the wax using lines and dots. Then the exposed metal is corroded away usage acid. The plate is inked and when pressed onto a paper by Etching press a limited edition of printed images can be made. With aquatint the image is made by using fine resin powder resist to make a textured ground