SAORI HATA

A Tokyo-based visual artist and bookmaker working primarily with mixed media and self-published art books. Images, text, editing, materials, and printing are developed together as a unified project.

Working independently, the practice extends across Japan, Asia, and North America. Many projects begin with highly personal experiences, which are translated through editing, visual interpretation, and bookmaking into narratives that can be handled, read, and shared.

One example is The Goats My Father Talked About, an artist book that re-edits personal emails and photographs to explore how private memory can open toward a more universal perspective.

Influenced by European decorative arts and Japanese antiques, the work is drawn to objects shaped by time, touch, and affection.

Recent book fairs include Seattle Art Book Fair, Vancouver Art Book Fair, Seoul Publishers Table, Bangkok Art Book Fair, and Tokyo Art Book Fair.

Saori Hata, The goats my father talked about, self published, 2022, © Saori Hata

A5 Custom Size / 116 pages

This art book compiles three years of emails and photographs sent by my father while he was working in distant countries such as Tanzania and Egypt. Through these messages, the book explores landscapes and animals of unfamiliar places through the perspectives of both my father and myself. As two Japanese individuals observing the world from afar, the work reflects on our parent–child relationship and the sense of distance between an individual and the wider world. The book is originally written in Japanese and English, and translations in several other languages are also available.

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Saori Hata, Poetry of Goats, self published, 2023, © Saori Hata

A6 / 50 pages

A book of poems and woodblock prints created on the same theme as “The goats my father talked about”.

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A4 / 86 pages

This book compiles photographs of the work "The Scenery of Furniture," which features interactive illustrations inspired by the stories of second-hand items collected from thrift shops in Japan.

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