Aki Rusu was born in 1976 in the Miyagi Prefecture of Japan. She completed her MFA at Tama Art University in Tokyo in 2002 and established her own studio in 2006. She currently works as an Associate Professor at Tama Art University. The focus of her work is creating sculptures in iron. She explains her process,

"I create works primarily using welding and cutting techniques. I hold a personal perspective on iron and of welding and cutting. Welding and cutting are industrial techniques that locally melt metal for the purpose of joining or separating it. However, interpreting this in my own way, I have sought to discover elements beyond their practical purpose, sublimating them into my work as an aesthetic technique. And within the iron material, I discovered various beautiful expressions. It is an act of creating form, while closely observing the transformations brought about by melting."

Rusu was the winner of the Tansuiou Grand Prize in 2017 and the Takashimaya Art Award in 2016, and received a Contemporary Arts Encouragement Award from the Japan Cultural Arts Foundation in 2003. Her work has been exhibited in numerous public museums in Japan, including the Hagi Uragami Museum in 2012, the Chigasaki City Museum of Art in Kanagawa in 2009, The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo in 2007 and the Tsukuba Museum of Art in Ibaraki in 2004.

"I am always searching for impressive forms that are created out of the unique iron fragments that I have discovered by experimenting with the material. Knowing the nature or characteristics of these fragments is very important. These exciting discoveries during the fabrication process have been the foundation of all of my work." — Rusu

Group Exhibitions

1. Small Works, Great Artists 26 February - 21 March 2019