Aricoco (Ari Tabei), born and raised in Tokyo, is an interdisciplinary artist, living and working in NYC. Awarded residencies and fellowships includes; A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship, Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program, Sculpture Space, LES Studio Program, Museum of Art and Design Open Studios, AIM program, Institute for Electronic Arts, Target Margin Theater Institute Fellowship, BRIC Visual Artist Residency, Culture Push, Sunroom Project Space at Wave Hill and NYFA Artist’s Fellowship in the category of Interdisciplinary work. Her most recent solo exhibition at La MaMa Galleria was supported by Franklin Furnace Fund. Performed new performance at Mandeville Gallery, Schenectady, NY.

aricoco is interested in how a community could form and function where there’s no central power to thrive. Exploring the non-hierarchical system of social insects (especially ants) and their biological altruistic characteristics within their female-dominated society, she attempts to acknowledge her paradoxical phobia for insects and challenge her own vulnerability as a human, drawing a parallel with the life of an insect. Through creating environments for habitation, sculptural garments/bags and masks that serve as her protective gear, aricoco disguises herself as an insect queen, performing a ritualistic play of surrendering her “powerless” body to the habitat.