It’s Like Breathing | Mio Yamato

One of the privileges Asia Society Japan has had is to introduce up and coming artists in Japan to talk about their journey and their aspirations going forward. Art for Breakfast has become a place for artists to network and introduce their processes and works. This April, we are honored to invite artist Mio Yamato who will have just returned from Mexico where she had her first artist in residence experience.

It’s only been seven years since she graduated from Kyoto University of Art and Design, but her works have been exhibited in Japan, London and Hong Kong. Most recognized is the RED DOT series that emerged from her graduation project. In this series, she starts with a dot on a white canvas without any specific image in mind. But, with that single dot, the empty space becomes meaningful. Using different mediums, her array of works have developed to large installations. Ms. Yamato will introduce her works and talk about her creative processes. She will also discuss the impact of the pandemic which led to creating a new series. And now with her experience in Mexico, we look forward to what lies ahead of her future works.

Please join us for Art for Breakfast with Mio Yamamoto.

This event will be conducted in-person and online.
In-person participation is for members and guests only. Online participation is open to the public. Registration is required.
There is an in-person guest fee of 5,000 yen. Online participation is free.

Speaker Bio

Mio Yamato
Artist

Mio Yamato was born in Shiga, Japan in 1990 and currently lives and is based in Kyoto Japan. In 2015. Yamato received M.F.A. in Contemporary Art from Kyoto University of Art and Design.

A myriad of dots on monochromatic canvas is Yamato’s signature style. Through a careful repetition of individual and separated drops of paint, the images that emerge resemble the shapes of nature, such as the ridge of mountains or the shape of waves. She explores how material and form change throughout time by using constant repetition and pattern. Indeed, she is constantly seeking to understand the gradual change in essence and form with the flow of time by repeatedly painting the same pattern over and over again, yet with a progressive movement and more human approach. The artist herself described the creative process as “the continuity of points which eventually loses order, and lines before long greatly meander. In the end the image that rises to the top is a projection of the experiences of the solitary human being called ‘I’, and perhaps a record of the phenomenon called living”.

Mio has won several art prizes in Japan, such as Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi (2013) and Contemporary Art Foundation Art Award (2015). In 2020, she won a Woman Artist Residency Award at ZONAMACO by Fundatión Casa Wabi and got an invitation to their Artist Residency Program in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. Her works have been exhibited in galleries across Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London, including exhibitions at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (2019) and Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art (2020).

Visit her website and Instagram (@mioyamato) for more information.