About
Ari Takata-Vasquez (b. 1991, Kapolei, Hawaii) is a multidisciplinary artist of Black, Puerto Rican, and Japanese heritage, based in Oakland, California, and Brooklyn, New York. For Ari, art is a meditative and sensory practice—a way to process experiences and distill complex ideas into accessible, engaging forms. Her work invites curiosity and contemplation, encouraging viewers to pause, reflect, and explore themes of nature, belonging, and cultural resilience.
Ari’s creative process emphasizes the quality of each line, celebrating sinuous forms and the tactile nature of art-making. Blurring the boundaries between mediums, she often mixes techniques from different disciplines working in both traditionally two-dimensional murals into three-dimensional forms through ceramics and fiber art. This innovative approach reflects her background in architecture and urban design, where she draws inspiration from architectural drafting styles, topographic lines, and the organic patterns of the natural world.
Her heritage as a Black, Puerto Rican, and Japanese artist deeply informs her vision. These cultures, each with a history of resistance and reverence for nature, inspire her to explore themes of resilience and interconnectedness. Ari’s art creates space for reflection, using fractals and recurring patterns to highlight how beauty persists across scales—whether in the contours of a fingerprint or the lines of a landscape.
Ari has collaborated with prominent organizations such as Google, Salesforce, Farella Braun + Martel, and San Francisco General Hospital, where her large-scale murals and sculptural installations have transformed public and private spaces. Her work has also been featured in exhibitions across the Bay Area and New York, where it has been celebrated for its minimal yet evocative designs that invite moments of calm in an overstimulated world.
Looking to the future, Ari aims to further explore the intersections of art, architecture, and place through larger scale experimental installations and public art. She envisions creating immersive environments that inspire connection to place and offer moments of quiet reflection, grounding viewers in the beauty of the natural and built worlds alike.
Photo by Andrea Arevalo
Spirit of Oakland
In collaboration with Oakland Art Murmur and Home Base Spirits, a mini-documentary was created to highlight the beauty of Oakland art. In the video you can see more of my studio and hear about my approach to art and it’s importance in our cities.
video by peakbound studio
photo by Andrea Arevalo
Ari’s Other Projects
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Multidisciplinary studio working across design, photography/videography, marketing, and architectural design to work with small business and organizations to make more vibrant places.
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My curatorial blog where I share interesting, joyful, and curious things I find and (sometimes go into a rabbit hole). I sends out a regular newsletter called sense•ari, filled with delights and other things she finds and enjoys.
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Started in 2014 as a brand and brick and mortar shop, I created my own lined of clothing, 3D Printed jewelry, and apothecary line called V by Viscera.
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Vicinity is a podcast about small businesses, neighborliness, and the magic of being, well, in the vicinity of other creative and passionate humans. In each episode, I interview a guest to find out what their journey has looked like (spoiler, it’s not linear), how they stay in it when things get tough, and most importantly, what brings them joy.