Ayakamay’s work tackles the blurred lines of commercial marketing with traditional gender and cultural perceptions. In this, her latest body of work, her focus centers around creating what the artist describes as, “an irritating and uncomfortable attraction… to take in something which one doesn’t want to watch, and in doing so opens oneself up to a new world view.”
There is a whimsy and humor to many of the works, the effect of which is sometimes subtle, as in the Japanese text that frames the stationary figures in Beer Girl, and other times overt as in her self portrait as a Japanese pop-culture idol. In this piece titled Idol Worship, whatever humor there is in a plastic, camera-ready smile serves only to underscore the artists philosophy. As Ayakamay explains, “society is not always simply divided by right and wrong or dark and light. It is the beauty of the taboo grey area that these pieces examine and celebrate.”