Aoi Suwa has been selected as the FY2025 ELSI Artist-in-Residence for the ELSI Science–Art Programme. Based in Kanagawa, Japan, Suwa creates experimental installations and two-dimensional works that explore dynamic phenomena and the nature of perception. Her practice investigates the interplay between human awareness and shifting physical processes, integrating media such as video, photography, and painting to reframe our understanding of space and time.

 
Her collaboration with ELSI engages with themes central to the Institute’s research, including cosmic dynamism in the early Solar System and the origins of life. Through dialogue with scientists, the project seeks to translate scientific perspectives into artistic expression — and, in turn, to offer new sensory and conceptual lenses through which to reflect on scientific inquiry. By bridging art and science, the collaboration aims to cultivate deeper contemplation and intuitive engagement with the evolving universe.

In recent years, particularly following the global transformations of 2020, Suwa has developed what she describes as a “nesting approach” as a core methodology within her practice. In this process, video, photography, and natural phenomena are layered with physical installations, observing and reconfiguring one another in an ongoing exchange. This approach foregrounds “seeing” as an active, subjective process, challenging passive modes of perception. Within her work, viewers encounter a form of drawing that emerges through the interaction between natural forces and human perception. Through this layered exploration, Suwa invites audiences to rediscover their embodied relationship with the cosmos.