Ikumi Nakada, born in 1982 in Saitama, Japan, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seijo University in 2005 and graduated from Vantan Design Institute in Tokyo in 2007. She currently resides in Taiwan and is engaged in artistic creation. Her artwork delicately portrays the genuine and innocent expressions of children. She captures the playful contours with fine and precise pencil lines and then layers low saturation oil paints to infuse lightness and vivacity into the characters, revealing the artist's nostalgia for the inner world of childhood.
In her creations, Ikumi Nakada continuously reflects on the boundary between her own childhood and adulthood, attempting to analyze the criteria for this distinction. She also focuses on the confusion and troubles that accompany maturity from physical, physiological, and psychological aspects. With the accumulation of her artistic experiences, she discovered a strong connection between the children she portrays and her own childhood memories. She intentionally avoids overidealizing and symbolizing the image of "childlike innocence." She believes that exploring the boundary between children and adults is an essential aspect of her artistic intent. Through her works, she aims to evoke individual childhood memories and remind viewers of the important people and things in their lives.
In 2016, Ikumi Nakada published her first monograph and has been actively participating in exhibitions in Japan, the United States, Taiwan, Shanghai, and other locations. Since 2012, she has been exhibiting in Taiwan, where her unique creative style and high recognizability have made her popular among art enthusiasts and collectors.