Naoko Ito

Born in Tokyo, Naoko Ito is a New York-based artist working in sculpture, installation and video. In her practice, Ito advocates that our entire lives are in a constant state of decay and renewal, an idea she has elegantly illustrated through her body of work. Ito’s 2021 installation Interrelation was created for Black Star Pasty’s flagship Shanghai location.

In Interrelation, Ito uses camphor branches and encases them in a collection of glass jars, which are suspended throughout Black Star Pastry, Shanghai. In closely intertwining natural and man-made objects, the artist blurs the boundary between ordinary and extraordinary: the camphor branches, commonplace in the Shanghai landscape, are transformed and transported to an entirely new setting within the futuristic Black Star Gallery.

Realised during the pandemic, Ito was unable to travel to China to work with UAP’s Shanghai team. As a result, Interrelation was developed virtually with the artist; the camphor branches were selected over a video call, and then digitised and 3D modelled to finalise the arrangements.

Since its establishment in 2008 in Sydney, Australia, Black Star Pastry has gained a cult following. Among many intricate delicacies, it is home to the famous Strawberry Watermelon Cake, named ‘The World’s Most Instagrammed Cake’ by the New York Times. Following this success, Black Star Pastry expanded to five more locations within Australia before launching its first overseas store in Shanghai in 2021.