Philadelphia-based artist Akiko Jackson was born and raised in Kahuku, a rural North Shore community on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. She holds an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts. Her practice has been supported by numerous fellowships and residencies across the U.S., including the Louise Bourgeois Fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Windgate Artist Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, the Lisa Naples Fellowship at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Foundation.
As both an artist and cultural worker, Jackson advocates for equity and accountability across arts institutions. She offers arts consulting that bridges advocacy with navigating organizational structures, and provides feedback when it can meaningfully support artists of color—particularly in addressing fair compensation and defining what genuine support should look like. Through the act of working directly with materials, her work explores how displaced memory and cultural identity shape and transform one another. Her work asks: How do we remain bonded to those we love, rooted in where we come from, and capable of belonging amid change?
Jackson has taught at institutions including Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Rowan University, The Clay Studio, Black Hound Clay Studios, and Grounds For Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with presentations at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the USC Pacific Asia Museum, and the Philadelphia International Airport.