Rei Zukidou is a Japanese painter based in Berlin. Working between mark-making and figuration, her practice explores the porous boundaries between the physical and metaphysical, the conscious and unconscious, and the visible and invisible forces that shape existence. Rooted in an intuitive and embodied process, her mark-making emerges through direct engagement with the canvas, where the momentum of the present moment guides gesture and rhythm, allowing forms to emerge beyond conscious intention. Her figurative works examine the complexities of human experience, moving through shifting states of being while traversing themes of vulnerability, power, violence, resilience, and transformation. Born in Japan, Zukidou spent part of her childhood between the United Kingdom and Belgium before returning to Japan at the age of eleven. Experiences of cultural and linguistic displacement during these formative years led her to embrace visual language as a means of exploring what cannot be fully articulated through words. Through her dual engagement with mark-making and figuration, she investigates the interconnected nature of all beings and forms, tracing the threads that connect the human body to plants, elements, and the wider forces that flow through all forms of existence.