Kotaro Ito (b. 1997, Japan) is a sea kayaker and contemporary art practitioner working across photography, video, performance, installation, mixed media, and sculpture. His practice is grounded in long-distance sea kayaking journeys that function both as research method and an artistic process. Using his body, found objects, and wood, he explores questions of ownership, boundaries, and individuality.
Born and raised in Tokyo, he began traveling across Japan and abroad during his university years. While traveling, he started taking photographs, which led him to study photography in an artistic context at Kyoto University of the Arts. During this time, he realized that photography alone was insufficient to fully express his concerns. He later entered Bigakko, an independent art school in Tokyo, where he expanded his practice under the guidance of Minako Saito.
Through sea kayaking, he observed how boundaries become ambiguous or vanish under the influence of wind, waves, and tidal currents. This experience led him to create performance-based videos and photographs that examine ideas of ownership and boundaries. Alongside these non-material practices, he developed an interest in material-based work. His mixed media pieces engage with environmental issues, while his sculptures, explore the formation of individuality.
His recent work on individuality is informed by the concept of the Middle Voice, a grammatical structure from ancient Greek in which the subject both acts and is acted upon. While paddling at sea, he experiences a similar condition: although he propels the kayak through his own effort, its movement is continuously shaped by external forces. From this perspective, his practice considers human beings as nomadic agents whose individuality emerges through continuous interactions with external forces.
1997 Born in Tokyo, Japan
2025 - 2026 Graduate Diploma in Art & Design, Fine Art, Royal College of Art
2022 - 2024 BA Fine Art, Kyoto University of the Arts
2017 - 2022 BSc Information Networking for Innovation and Design, Toyo University
Workshops
2023 - 2024 Bigakko | Visual Communication Lab
2019 - 2022 Photo Archipelago Photography School
Solo Exhibition
2024.03 At Sea / 海にて | Bigakko Studio (Tokyo)
Group Exhibition
2024.03 Kyoto University of the Arts Graduate Show | Kyoto University of the Arts (Kyoto)
2023.02 cultus TSUKUHA show Vol.1 | co-en, Tsukuba Centre Building (Ibaraki)
2022.08 [5th, 6th, 7th term] Photo archipelago Photography School Graduation Works Exhibition | Kagawa Prefecture Cultural Hall (Kagawa)
Interpretation (English to Japanese)
2024.04 Sotiris Gonis & Ania Mokyzycka, "Garden, Ashes" | haco - art brewing gallery (Tokyo)