Ayako David-Kawauchi is known for the depictions of fragmented faces and bodies that coalesce, overlap, or dangle unfinished in her dreamlike, monochromatic sketches. David-Kawauchi was born in Ehime prefecture, Japan, in 1963 and studied Applied Arts at Jiyu Gakuen, Tokyo. After graduating in 1986, she moved to Paris to study Textiles at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD), where she graduated in 1991. David-Kawauchi currently works in charcoal as her main medium, drawing from live models whom she invites to her studio. She selectively incorporates elements and details from these subjects in her pared down compositions: a fiery gaze, the gesture of a hand, an obscured breast, the contour of a pant leg or shirt, a quiet glance. Her vignettes of cropped, unfinished bodies are often imbued with a consciousness through the figures' eyes, which might look out to confront the viewer. David-Kawauchi's delicate yet uncannily abbreviated compositions offer honest renderings of the human psyche in all its mundane permutations.

David-Kawauchi's work has been featured in exhibitions at Galerie GNG, Paris; Galerie Polad Hardouin, Paris; Galerie Christine Phal, Paris; Galerie C, Neuchâtel, Switzerland; 2010 Tokyo Art Fair; Zhejiang Art Museum; Chapelle Sainte Anne, Tours, France; and Centre d'Art de l'Abbaye d'Auberive, France, among others. Her work has been collected by such entities as Fonds d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Montluçon and the City of Villeneuve-la-Garenne. David-Kawauchi lives and works in Paris.

CEJ