fusengirl®
PROFILE
fusengirl® is an artist who creates portraits of imaginary individuals on sticky notes, transforming an ordinary, everyday material into the foundation of an ongoing artistic practice. Trained in Japanese painting at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts, she has produced one portrait a day since January 1, 2020, each painted on a 7.5 × 7.5 cm sticky note.
None of these faces depicts a specific model or an existing person. Emerging through delicately layered lines and colors, each figure possesses a distinct expression and presence. They may evoke someone in the viewer’s memory, yet their identities remain elusive. It is precisely this anonymity that leaves space for the viewer’s own memories and emotions to enter the work.
The choice of the sticky note—a small, lightweight, inherently temporary material—is central to her practice. Designed to carry a brief message, to be attached and eventually removed, it becomes instead a surface on which an individual presence is carefully rendered and preserved. The repeated act of painting one figure each day on an identical format extends beyond portraiture, gradually transforming the passage of time itself into part of the work. In this respect, her practice resonates with On Kawara’s sustained engagement with the recording and accumulation of time through daily artistic practice.
At the same time, the repetition of faces and vivid use of color evoke the visual language of Pop Art. Yet fusengirl® does not depict celebrities or reproduce existing images: every figure is entirely imagined. Rather than repeating images already circulating in the world, she creates someone who did not previously exist, one portrait at a time. Through their accumulation, countless individual presences begin to emerge, forming a distinctive approach to contemporary portraiture.
Since 2023, she has expanded beyond the sticky-note format through her fusengirl alt. series. Working with canvas and a variety of other surfaces that already carry traces of time, use, or memory, she creates new relationships between the portrayed figure and the material on which it appears.
Grounded in the refined techniques of Japanese painting, fusengirl® brings together everyday materials, vivid color, repetition, and imagined figures to explore portraiture, memory, time, and the relationship between the viewer and an anonymous other.
BIOGRAPHY
MFA in Japanese Painting, Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions：
2025 “Chorus of Memory” Sho+1, Tokyo
Group Exhibitions：
2026 “ART FAIR TOKYO 20” Sho+1, Tokyo
2026 “Before Spring” Sho+1, Tokyo
2025 “Faces – Expressions Through the Face” Sho+1, Tokyo
2025 “ART FAIR TOKYO 19” Sho+1, Tokyo
2024 “Foresight and Insight” Sho+1, Tokyo
2024 “fairy tale in a dream” Sho+1, Tokyo
2023 “Art Collaboration Kyoto（ACK）” Sho+1, Kyoto
2023 fusengirl®︎ × Shizuka Ando “moment” Collaboration Project by Sho+1 & +DA.YO.NE. Sho+1, Tokyo
2023 “ART FAIR TOKYO 2023” Sho+1, Tokyo
2022 “art stage OSAKA” Sho+1, Osaka
2022 “Illusion of Reality” GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS FOAM COMTEMPORARY, Tokyo
2022 “ART FAIR TOKYO 2022” Sho+1, Tokyo
2022 “3331 Art Fair 2022” 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo
OFFICIAL LINK
https://www.instagram.com/fusengirl/
“fusengirl” is a trademark of RoKu, inc.