ABOUT AKEMI ALCHEMY

When I was 8 years old and asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I confidently answered "an artist!" Drawing was my favorite way to create the world around me: I'd spend hours and hours happily sketching imaginary towns where it rained candy, illustrating mystery stories, and even rendering myself as a digidestined character with my own digimon (if you know if you know). 

 

But the older I got, the more I became indoctrinated into the "real world" - a world I had to conform to by pleasing my teachers and preparing to get a "real job". My answers to "what do you want to be when you grow up?" became more realistic and less enthusiastic - at age 11 it was "writer!" At 16 it was "civil rights attorney...?" By the time I got to high school, I stopped drawing. After college, I buried myself in political mobilization work and tried to convince myself I liked it. I had good intentions - I was trying to help and serve. I was trying to change the world - a world desperately needing new policies that honored the humanity in each of us. 

 

But in my work mobilizing voters, I felt a growing sense of disconnection and discontent. After getting laid off from that job in 2017, I spent the next several years journeying from the farthest reaches of the Thailand jungle to the innermost spaces of my subconsciousness. I reunited with my best friends from UCLA a cappella, and they inspired me to sing and dance and draw again. To remember who I am and what makes me come alive. And to realize my deepest, most powerful impact happens when I am in my joy. 

 

When I got laid off from my third nonprofit in 2022, I decided to fully commit to pursuing the path of being an entrepreneurial artist. I took art classes with Amanda Sage, painted a ton, and honed my singing skills. In 2023, I started exhibiting and selling my art. In 2024, I opened a shop on my website and moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, where I began recording music, performing, and doing painting commissions. 

 

2025 is off to an amazing start - I was featured in my own episode of the new Prime Video reality show, “Wear Whatever the F You Want”! 

 

I'm proud of how far I've come, both in my technical art skills and in my ability to believe in myself and push myself through resistance, fear, and uncertainty - to keep going no matter what. 

 

In taking this path, I choose to believe that it's possible to create a beautiful life doing what I love. I believe that sharing my gifts will inspire others to find & share their own, and that we'll create a more beautiful world in doing so.

 

I hope that my art transmits beauty, love, and reverence to you. I hope that it makes your world a little brighter. Thank you for being here!