Hi, I am Amina Kai, a photographer and visual artist from Baltimore, now living in Tokyo, Japan. I have been making art for as long as I can remember. Painting, film, and photography are my primary mediums.
In 2018, I began studying at ArtCenter College of Design, where my focus was photography. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I moved to Cotonou, Benin, where I lived for nearly a year. During that time, I photographed daily life, created two short documentary films, and picked up conversational French through daily interactions.
I returned to California in 2021, but continued moving between places. After being accepted to an artist residency in Yokohama, Japan, I spent three months working on 'Childhood Joy', an ongoing painting series exploring parental narcissistic abuse, invisibility, soul loss, and the pressure to maintain image — a call to look beneath the surface.
Between 2022 and 2024, I worked on film sets in Los Angeles as a background actor and PA (personal assistant), freelanced, and continued developing my independent practice. I also returned to school at Irvine Valley College, studying painting and drawing to reconnect with foundational techniques while expanding my portfolio.
In January 2025, I transferred to a university in Tokyo to complete my fine arts degree. I am currently continuing my studies while working across painting and photography, with plans to return to film in the near future.
If you have any questions or are interested in working together, please reach out through my Contact page — I’d love to connect!
— Amina Kai