Today we’d like to introduce you to Rieko Chacey
Hi Rieko, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Upon my high school graduation, I came to the U.S. from Japan not being able to communicate in English very well. Ever since, I have lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Now, my English has improved, and I acclimated to the U.S. because the number of years I have lived here is more than the first 18 years of my life in Japan. However, a part of my spirit is forever Japanese and unchanged though my better half is an American who is my major influencer and a hero in my life.
For Japanese people, I am perceived as an Americanized weirdo. For American people, they think I am very Japanese, strange and an underdog. I have experienced two completely different cultures and languages, but I still find myself not fitting into either of the societies. Finding a place to belong has been my life-long journey. Building my own family and home in Baltimore where I feel accepted and appreciated for who I am gives me a respite from being a sojourner in the world.
I am a Baltimore-based digital artist who has a professional background in graphic design, motion design, video editing, interactive design, and illustration. I started participating in various exhibitions in the beginning of 2024. I have a passion for creating visual narratives in any medium of art. I create animations, videos, illustrations, sounds, music, and installation art. I love experimenting and exploring new media that I have not used before. I also teach art in a higher education setting.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Though I am privileged to be born in a developed country like Japan and reside in yet another wealthy country like the U.S., if my life was visualized to be a road, it is nothing but bumpy gravel and dirt with occasional excrement that some animals and passersby have left behind—sadly, not even a single continuous square foot paved on the path. Sure, my life could be a lot worse, but I certainly have many things that I wish I could change.
The major setback I was born into was that my upbringing was quite challenging, psychologically. This impacted my wellbeing and though I am now healed and healthy, my psychological scars would never go away.
I was not well acquainted with healthy positive emotions or constructive mindsets when I was young. This impacted me in every area of my life. I had to learn fundamental social manners and interpersonal skills from my failures and mistakes as well as from the others who were willing to teach me. I am forever thankful to those who walked with me when I was growing to be a functional adult.
Overcoming the psychological walls that were built from my past was much harder than acquiring a new language, excelling academically, and performing well in the workplace in the country that I did not grow up in. Any challenge that is associated with immigrating to a new country was a superficial struggle to me.
Yet, this setback that now stays with me as an old psychological scar was what I needed that shaped my life today. It drives me to create artwork for the peace and comfort of my mind. I also expanded my emotional capacity to love and accept others in a truer, deeper, more meaningful way. It pushed me out of my comfort zone of superficial compassion, empathy, and forgiveness and forced me to dive deeper. I would not have been able to develop a heart to encourage, support, and build up others like I parent my children and teach my students.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I create artwork for exhibitions and art events. They are mainly animations and digital art, but I am expanding my skills to installation art as well. Please check out my work at RiekoChacey.com
I also have a YouTube Channel in which I teach Japanese language. I produce the videos and informative animations on my own.
https://www.youtube.com/@Japanese-nd1uq
When people figure out I am from Japan, they often ask me to teach them Japanese. Because anime and manga are very popular now all over the world, more people are interested in learning it. In order for me not to decline their request to teach them the language, I set up the YouTube channel so I have something I could direct them to.
I currently teach art in Towson University and Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. I also freelance as a motion designer, web designer, illustrator, and graphic designer on the side.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
AI generated artwork has produced a lot of discussion, possibilities of regulation, and controversies in the art community. I think artists are overreacting to it because it is still a new technology.
But soon, I believe AI generated artwork will be accepted as another tool in image editing software that everyone has access to and is meant to be used.
For example, many photographers’ artwork has some parts that they produced with their own hands and labor, but it also has other parts that they used image editing software like Photoshop. With both techniques and skills used, their photograph is still accepted as their own artwork as a whole.
AI generated art will soon be perceived and tolerated to be a tool that contributes to the whole of a piece of artwork like that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://riekochacey.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riekochacey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064164211791
- Twitter: https://x.com/RiekoChacey?prefetchTimestamp=1725983264988
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Japanese-nd1uq
