Hanaki Kaneda is a Japanese artist whose works depict cats as admirers and sometimes represent her alter egos. In Kaneda's works, she uses cats as a substitute to fulfil her desires that cannot be fulfilled in the real world, letting them live in her ideal world. In addition to cats, birds such as parakeets, tigers, lions, pandas, and a wide variety of other animals appear in her works. By nature, cats and birds are predators and prey thus it is difficult for them to coexist in the same space. In retrospect, humans live in a world where people hurt each other for various reasons such as religion, race, and gender. She depicts a world where animals coexist without harming each other through art, a projection of her ideal society onto animals that represent diverse people where all are accepted and respected.

“I have always had a cat by my side in my life. Since childhood, I have not been able to communicate well with the people around me and have tended to be alienated from my community. Cats have always been adored even when they behave freely, and I have always longed for such cats".

Education:

2005 MFA, Claremont Graduate University

Selected Exhibitions:

2002 solo exhibition "Nopedigreeattached" (Amuse Museum, Tokyo, Japan)
2015 solo exhibition "Cats are coming" (Miyagi, Japan)
2016 solo exhibition "Neko Kaitai Shinsho" (Miyagi, Japan)
2017 solo exhibition "Be a slave of the cat" ( Miyagi, Japan)
2018 solo exhibition "I'llbebornasacatagainandlive" (Miyagi, Japan)
2018 solo exhibition "Queen of Hundred Beasts" (Pakupakuan, Tokyo)
2018 solo exhibition "The Princess of Extreme Colors" (art gallery OPPO/Tokyo)
2019 solo exhibition "All the world is in the cat's " (Miyagi, Japan)
2019 solo exhibition "Beautiful words, ugly words" (Pakupakuan, Tokyo)
2020 online exhibition "Hanaki Kaneda's Cat Exhibition" (Tachikichi online shop)
2020 solo exhibition "Neko ni Pearl to Blue Topaz" (Hankyu Department Store Umeda, Osaka)
2021 Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong 2021
2021 Whatever Artspace, Hong Kong Online solo exhibition "Hanaki Kaneda's Cat Exhibition" (Tachikichi online shop)