Aya Takano’s bright figuration draws from science fiction, manga, Surrealism, and the work of Yayoi Kusama. The Japanese artist, who works for Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki production studio, often depicts feminine characters in fantastical situations. This lends her body of work—which ranges from oil paintings on canvas to illustrations in pen on paper—the feel of an extended sci-fi universe. Takano has exhibited at galleries in Paris, Tokyo, New York, and Hong Kong, and her work has sold for six figures on the secondary market. While Takano’s practice shares stylistic similarities with the Superflat tendencies of her mentor, Murakami, Takano’s work is more invested in imagining the future as a place of powerful, fantastical femininity.