The Kasumigaura Log:

 

Spatiotemporal Eco-Architecture

and Non-Human Animism

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At the intersection of the visual lexicon of Pop art—critiquing hyper-consumer society—and the primal expressive impulses of Outsider art, sculptor Mayu Shiomi materializes non-physical phenomena to cultivate an expansive sense of space that encompasses the omissions, margins, and ma (interstitial space) generated at the boundaries of reality. The essence of her plastic expression lies in an inquiry into systems that solidify the thresholds between the real and the otherworldly, thereby connecting them to realms beyond the finite.

 

Shiomi’s practice has previously centered on a methodology of reconstructing consumer goods, garments, and contemporary icons, utilizing a sculpture process rooted in clay modeling alongside material displacement. By translating and transmuting ubiquitous, everyday forms into alternative materialities, her work deconstructs "the myth of the readymade" surrounding mass-produced icons, recontextualizing the inherent temporality of objects through a material and spatial-archaeological lens.

 

In recent years, Shiomi has relocated her base of operations to the rural environs of Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture. Engaging in the self-renovation of a traditional Japanese house (kominka), her fieldwork has descended into an alternative geological stratum. Treating this domestic space—in the midst of its transition into a studio—as a specific geological core sample of the Earth's surface, she documents and observes the plaster, soil walls, bamboo lathing, and straw discovered within, as well as the anonymous soil and wild flora germinating at her feet. Rather than remaining confined to a localized specificity, these elements function as nodes of universal materiality that humanity has interacted with across epochs.

 

Here, her established approach of materializing signs through artificial materials evolves into a broader sphere of manifestation. While maintaining classical or traditional processes, the natural matter and spatial fissures under observation undergo an artificial treatment or intersection with contemporary materials, rendering a dynamic suspension wherein a singular moment and its temporality are fixed. By juxtaposing decayed logs and primitive animistic materials with the rigid signs of consumer society, the work instigates a structural displacement of matter.

 

These cumulative processes are systematically archived through photographs and material documentation under The Kasumigaura Log. Shiomi continuously observes the ecological succession within the space—from the spontaneous growth of ferns emerging from the earth to the intricate geometry of spiderwebs spun across branches that have integrated into the architectural structure. Through human intervention, the deconstruction of the myth of the readymade, a disciplined structural approach, and a dialogue with the active agency of the more-than-human, Shiomi’s sculptural language transcends the production of singular objects, evolving into an essential, site-specific ecosystem that handles the environment as a whole.

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Born 1982 in Tokyo, Japan

Lives and works in Ibaraki, Japan

 

 

Education

 

• 2016 MFA, Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts, Aichi, Japan

• 2011 BFA, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

 

Solo Exhibitions

 

• 2026   The Tale of the Millennium Kingdom, ARTIFACT PROJECTS, New York, NY

• 2024   morning, tagboat, Tokyo, Japan

• 2023   Tiny Desk, GALLERY 04 GAIKU, NANEI ART PROJECT, Osaka, Japan

• 2018   Brillia ART AWARD 2018, Brillia Lounge The GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

• 2017   Fresh 2017: MAYU SHIOMI EXHIBITION, Contemporary Art Museum ISE, Mie, Japan

• 2016   SILVER WORKS, MDP GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

• 2015   CAPRICIOUS WORLD, NANATASU GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

• 2014   Adult Picture Book, NANATASU GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

• 2012   FANTASIA! - SKINNY FATHER CHRISTMAS AND ALICE THE TRANSVESTITE, ASK? P, Tokyo, Japan

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

 

• 2025   Art liberated area, FLUID EDGE, SPACE ANNEX Bldg, Tokyo, Japan

• 2024   tagboat Art Fair 2024, TOKYO PORTCITY TAKESHIBA, Tokyo, Japan

• 2023   tagboat Art Fair 2023, TOKYO PORTCITY TAKESHIBA, Tokyo, Japan

• 2022   juice box (Online Exhibition), Kingston, UK

• 2022   Art Fair HAKATA: tagboat x HAKATA HANKYU, HAKATA HANKYU, Fukuoka, Japan

• 2022   CORE part11, tagboat gallery, HANKYU MEN'S TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan

• 2022   Art Fair GINZA: tagboat x MITSUKOSHI, GINZA MITSUKOSHI, Tokyo, Japan

• 2022   tagboat Art Fair 2022, TOKYO PORTCITY TAKESHIBA, Tokyo, Japan

• 2022   TAGBOAT ART SHOW x HANKYU MEN'S TOKYO, HANKYU MEN'S TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan

• 2021   tagboat Art Fair, TOKYO PORTCITY TAKESHIBA, Tokyo, Japan

• 2021   Art liberated area, TENOHA DAIKANYAMA, Tokyo, Japan

• 2020   HYAKU DAN KAIDAN, HOTEL GAJOEN TOKYO (National Important Cultural Property), Tokyo, Japan

• 2019   Living with Art, Naoshima Honmura Gallery, Kagawa, Japan

• 2018   Beautiful & Power Street: an unknown station, Old Aoki-ke Nasu-Bettei (National Important Cultural Property), Tochigi, Japan

• 2018   Play & Pray, Kurashiki City Art Museum, Okayama, Japan

• 2018   ART × KURASHIKI × SWEETS, Kurashiki City Art Museum, Okayama, Japan

• 2018   BREATHE, YUMI STUDIO, Okayama, Japan

• 2018   Contemporary Art Salon, Auction Center Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

• 2018   rooms EXPERIENCE 38, GOTANDA TOC Building, Tokyo, Japan

• 2018   CROSS CURRENT, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

• 2018   EAST WEST ARTISTS EXCHANGE EXHIBITION LONDON 2018, POSK Gallery, London, UK

• 2018   TOKYO ILLUSION, Dali Art Plaza, Taichung, Taiwan

• 2018   threads, Espacio Gallery, London, UK

• 2018   SHICHIBITOKU, YUMI STUDIO, Okayama, Japan

• 2017   ROKKO MEETS ART 2017, Rokkosanjo Station, Hyogo, Japan

• 2017   2 PARTY, THE blank GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

• 2017   ART FAIR FUKUOKA 2017, Hotel Okura Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

• 2016   Company Collaboration Tokyo Project 2016 Group Exhibition, MDP GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

• 2016   Company Collaboration Tokyo Project 2016, boy U, Tokyo, Japan

• 2016   LUMINE YURAKUCHO 5th Anniversary: Wear the Art, LUMINE Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan

• 2016   Eyebrow: Raising Responses to Frida Kahlo, Menier Gallery, London, UK

• 2016   MIKI Collection, Nasunogahara Museum, Tochigi, Japan

• 2015   The Art Fair Plus Ultra 2015, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan

• 2013   Onward: Navigating the Japanese Future 2013 (Part 1 & 2), The Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

• 2013   ISE NY Art Search 2013, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY

• 2013   Selected Works From Japan 2013 Exhibition, Michi Gallery, New York, NY

• 2011   The Complete Works of Graduation: The Allies of Five Universities of Art in Tokyo, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan

• 2011   ZOKEI, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

• 2010   The Works by the Fourth Grader, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

• 2010   Harajuku Extraordinary Idea Circus, Design Festa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

• 2009   GATTEN, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

• 2009   Design Festa vol.29, Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan

• 2008   Discovery 2008, KEY & SEIKA Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

• 2008   S・O・U・P, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

 

Awards and Grants

 

• 2020   Shortlisted, The 252nd Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (Coordinated by Jane and Louise Wilson RA)

• 2020   Special Award, Mellow Art Award, Tokyo, Japan

• 2019   Selected Exhibitor, The 14th TAGBOAT AWARD, Tokyo, Japan

• 2018   Grand Prize, Brillia ART AWARD 2018, Tokyo, Japan

• 2018   Selected Exhibitor, The 21st Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (TARO AWARD), Kanagawa, Japan

• 2017   Selected Exhibitor, ROKKO MEETS ART 2017, Hyogo, Japan

• 2016   Sculpture Award, Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts (Graduate School), Aichi, Japan

• 2016   Special Jury Award, TAGBOAT ART FES 2016 Independent, Tokyo, Japan

• 2013   ISE Cultural Foundation Award, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY (Juried by Nancy Lim, SFMOMA)

 

Public Collections

 

• Nasunogahara Museum, Tochigi, Japan

 

Selected Bibliography

 

• 2021 ‘Featured Artist Portfolio’, Create! Magazine, no. 27, 2021

• 2021 ‘Featured Artist’, ARTIST TALK MAGAZINE, no. 16, August 2021

• 2021 ‘Featured Artist’, ARTIST TALK MAGAZINE, no. 15, May 2021

• 2019 ‘Contributed Work/Article’, YUMI STUDIO Newsletter, no. 52, August 2019

• 2019 CROSS CURRENT: The 5th Japan-U.S. International Artists Exchange Exhibition (exh. cat.), Contemporary Artist Center, January 2019

• 2018 The 21st Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (exh. cat.), Taro Okamoto Foundation for Art Promotion, February 2018

• 2017 ROKKO MEETS ART 2017 (exh. cat.), Rokko Mountain Tourism Co., Ltd., November 

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CORE CONCEPTS / RESEARCH FOCUS

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01. Japan-dan: The Intersection of Traditional Space and Modern Materiality

 

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The intersection of Japan’s traditional sensibilities—embracing shadows and the interstitial space of "ma"—with modern functionalism. While preserving classical techniques, the intervention of contemporary materials instigates a temporal dialogue that blurs the boundaries between human systems and nature.

 

 

02. Defining Material Archaeology: Deciphering the Strata of Objects

 

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Material archaeology in my practice is not the excavation of antiquities, but a sculptural inquiry into the temporalities inherent in matter. It encompasses both the deconstruction of contemporary consumer myths by transmuting ready-mades into planetary materials, and the rigorous observation of universal elements—plaster, soil walls, and wild flora—treated as geological core samples of the Earth's surface.

 

 

03. The Kasumigaura Log: Documenting Spatial Transformation and Non-Human Agency

 

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A systematic archive tracking the architectural and ecological shifts within the studio space. By observing spontaneous ecological successions—such as ferns rising from the clay or spiderwebs integrated into beams—the practice transforms from singular object-making into a site-specific ecosystem in active dialogue with more-than-human agency.