Ōki Izumi was born in Tokyo, Japan.
She graduated in ancient Japanese literature at the Waseda University of Tokyo. She studied painting and sculpture with Aiko Miyawaki, Taku Iwasaki and Yoshishige Saito.In 1977, she won a scolarship from the Italian Government. In 1981, she graduated at the Brera Academy after attending a course in sculpture.
She participated, with her works and installations, in many personal and collective exhibitions in Italy, Japan and different other countries: Progetto Venezia; Biennale di Venezia III mostra internazionale di architettura(1985), Arte e Biologia; Biennale di Venezia XLII mostra di Arte visive(1986), Alla radici del sole; Triennale di Milano(1983), Giappone-Italia, giovani generazioni; Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna di Roma(1992), Istituto Giapponese di Cultura a Roma(1997, 1998, 2010), Rhythmic Refractions; Mestna Galerija Ljubljana(2007), Stratificazioni; Museo di Santa Giulia in Brescia(2014), Arte del vetro oggi in Italia; Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milano(2014), Ponte di luce; Museo d’arte Orientale Edoardo Chiossone di Genova(2017).
She lives and works in Milan.
Her works are mainly made of industrial glass panes, a material possessing the double quality of transparency and reflection. This induces the spectator to focus on an observation overcoming the simple retinic perception, open to a personal time-space that invites introspection. The ever-changing light conditions that animate the glass works are a constant incentive to an interaction with the equally variable and diverse experiences and knowleges of the viewer.
In the hands of the artist, almost paradoxically, a cold, industrial material invites to meditation.
A condition that emerges with particular intensity in the large installations, arousing in the spectator an experience not simply visual, but where the reflexes arising from the glass lead to a personal, reflexive introspection.