Kei Ito is a conceptual photographer working primarily with camera-less image and installation art. Ito earned his MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016. Ito is currently teaching at University of Utah as the Marva and John Warnock Artist in Resident. The notable institutes which collected his work include the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.

Ito’s work addresses issues of deep loss and intergenerational connection as he explores the materiality and experimental processes of photography. His work deals with the trauma and legacy passed down from his late grandfather, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in relation to current threats of nuclear disaster. Through his ritualistic image-making, the audience sees how he grapples with his family’s historical connection to nuclear weapons and power. Thus, Ito’s art serves as an intermediary, a memento of his grandfather, and his own experience in today’s nuclear climate.

Artist Statement

“My work addresses issues of deep loss and intergenerational connection as I explore the materiality and experimental processes of photography. My work deals with the trauma and legacy passed down from my late grandfather, a survivor of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and a later anti-nuclear activist, in relation to current threats of nuclear disaster. My artworks lead the audience on a journey from grief and remembrance to hope. Through my ritualistic image-making, the audience sees how I grapple with my family’s historical connection to nuclear weapons and power. my works serve as mementos of my heritage, and reflects my experience of having two homes; Japan and America. My work serves as a prayer, and a flashing siren of a hundred suns to warn the present of the mistakes of the past.”