Group Show--
San Fernando Valley Arts & Cultural Center “SCORE”
Encino, CA. USA.
Group Show--
Las Laguna Gallery “Portraits”
Laguna Beach, CA. USA.
Group Show--
ShockBoxx Gallery “Intergalactic Open”
Hermosa Beach, CA. USA.
Group Show--
Las Laguna Gallery "Comics, Anime, Cartoons and Fantasy”
Laguna Beach, CA. USA.
Group Show--
Las Laguna Gallery “Women In Art”
Laguna Beach, CA. USA.
Group Show--
Las Laguna Gallery “Sketchbook West”
Laguna Beach, CA. USA.
Education--
The Art Students League of New York — Life Drawing
Education--
National Academy School of Fine Arts — Watercolor
Art serves as both an expression and a reflection of my profound fears about humanity and existence. I examine the dichotomy between human vulnerability—depicted primarily through despondent figures—and humor, using kitschy doodles as a means of resilience. Faced with daily despair, my intrinsic nature compels me toward a surreal acceptance of tragic realities.
The relative concentration of darkness and light oscillates rapidly, shifting its equilibrium through an intuitive process that balances conscious intent with subconscious impulse. To gain greater control over this dynamic—generating chaotic energy through eeriness and unified aesthetics—I render my foundational pen-and-ink drawings, subsequently expanding into mixed-media photography, digital illustration, animation, and music. Because these diverse mediums feel like a single seamless extension of my mind, they enable me to access a more lucid, authentic inner vision.
I hope the pop, funny, and strange nuances embedded throughout my art act as a deliberate counterweight, allowing viewers—and myself—to survive morbidity without being consumed by it.
Zoë Starhippie is a Japanese multimedia artist whose current practice is the culmination of a lifelong, deeply personal evolution. Drawing for as long as she can remember, she decided at age twelve to pursue a career as a cartoonist. This steadfast goal remained her primary focus until 1998, when she relocated to New York City. There, she reconnected with the fine art world, earning a watercolor scholarship at the National Academy School of Fine Arts, studying life drawing at the Art Students League, and developing a profound, lasting infatuation with photography.
Returning to Japan, Starhippie continued to pursue cartooning but found her time increasingly overtaken by the creation of surreal, gory, and pop-art illustrations. A stark realization emerged: she was driven more by the boundless freedom of imaginative art than by the narrative constraints of cartoons. For ten years, she wrestled with this duality, working part-time jobs and living a quiet, everyday life while internally struggling over her creative future.
In 2016, she finally released her childhood dream and committed entirely to fine art. It was a long journey of mental alignment that ultimately birthed the highly refined, multimedia practice she maintains today. By merging her early illustrative instincts with disciplined aesthetic control, Starhippie now creates intricate works that juxtapose human vulnerability with kitschy, strange humor—offering a surreal acceptance of tragic realities.
Zoë Starhippie is a Japanese multimedia artist, expressing her profound fears about humanity and existence across a wide range of media. Rather than using art simply as a release for raw pain, her focus centers on how controlled, precise, and aesthetically refined her practice can become. Utilizing her foundational pen-and-ink drawings alongside mixed-media photography, digital illustration, animation, and music, she integrates spontaneous creation with a deliberate examination of form—achieving a harmonious juxtaposition of dread and humor.
Her ongoing exploration centers on how her work transforms as her personal awareness deepens and evolves. Above all, she aspires for her art to inspire amusement, serving as a vital counterweight to her predominant sentiment of despair.
Currently, she resides with her husband in the city in Japan. Carrying a deep commitment to environmentalism and animal advocacy, she maintains a mindful, eco-conscious daily life—embracing a vegetarian diet and thoughtful consumption while balancing urban living with a deep respect for the planet.