The animator and illustrator discusses balancing commercial work with her creative instincts and the joy in making work that makes people feel uneasy
There’s something quietly uncomfortable about the work of Sawako Kabuki. Her animations and illustrations are almost hypnotic, often veering into salacious territory, though the play between surreal and saucy visuals keeps things compelling.
Her path into the industry came after studying graphic design at university, where she leaned into drawing as it was “the only thing I was good at”. When deciding between fine art and graphic design, she chose design because she felt like it would “give me a wider range of things to learn and work on”.
This broader toolkit is evident in Kabuki’s clean lines, surprising compositions and crisp storytelling. Based in Tokyo and represented by Sato Creative, her work resists easy categorisation, with the artist describing it as focusing on “ambiguous feelings”, and images that are “a bit gross but also satisfying”.
Top: Shrimp. Above: Cannoli. All images: Sawako Kabuki
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