Aya Kaked is THE Master of Cute

When it comes to the art of the cute, illustrator and ceramic artist Aya Kaked is the ultimate master. Her artwork oftentimes displays playfully naive characters in surreal landscapes. Those are printed on anything from books and magazines to posters and store installations. She’s also collaborated with clients as big as NIKE, The New York Times, The New Yorker Magazine, and Washington Post.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, and currently based in Brooklyn, NY, Kaked admits she’s always loved drawing and story-telling, ever since being a small child. “I’ve now grown into an artist/illustrator, with quite a broad and experimental approach spanning illustration, fine art, comic book design, toy design, ceramics, and pattern design,” she told Inky Goodness.

And much like her art, her creative process is a mish-mash of sorts. “My studio really is a mess,” she says, “but then all of my work comes out of the chaos. If I had to summarise, I mainly stick to sketchbooks, pens, inks, brushes, acrylic gouache, resin, air-dry clay, glazes, tools for sculpting and masking tapes.”

“I don’t really think that [there’s] a distinction between my work and my hobbies,” she adds. “I generally really like to be creative. I’d happily just sit in a studio in my spare time and make 100 tiny ceramic mice… that would make me super happy.”

Bask in her playful creations: