Artist Statement
Misa creates works with enigmatic motifs and gestural marks, gracefully oscillating on the boundary between semi-abstraction and vaguely recognisable figurative or landscape.
Having grown up in Japan, Misa has always felt her everyday life was intertwined with the way of nature. She is intrigued with the boundaries that human has developed to distinguish themselves from the rest of the natural world often through analysis, study, and explanation in disciplines like science and mathematics. Nature is always in flux and has domains that transcend human senses and conceptions. What we cannot comprehend may cause discomfort, they could also mean hopes and possibilities. Misa’s work visualises the elusive realms of our world between describable and indescribable, certainty and mystery, and consciousness and intuition.
Living between two cultures, Japan and the UK, has instilled in Misa a sense of cultural liminality—a feeling of belonging to neither place entirely. This experience draws her to explore vagueness and ambiguity, shining light on the in-between spaces that defy clear definition.
Misa’s creative process is inspired by folklore, mythology, and poetry, which expand her perception and deepen her connection to the world’s hidden layers. She collects marks and shapes through process of mark making, collage, and printmaking. Guided by spontaneity and intuition, there is a sense of uncovering the images with layers of marks and shapes. The images are the results of play between chance and control, randomness and inevitabilities, much like nature itself.
BIO
Misa was born in Japan and has lived in the UK for the last 20 years.. She completed an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts in 2013 and is a recipient of the Bainbridge Studio Award and the Intaglio Printmaker Awards at at The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers National Original Print Exhibition. She regularly exhibits in Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair.
CV
Education
Sept 2022-2023 TURP Correspondence course
Sept 2013 MA in Printmaking, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London
Mar 2011 UAL level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art & Design, Citylit (awarded by UAL)
Sept 1999 LLB in Law, University of Warwick
Exhibitions
Nov 2024 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London
Nov 2024 Southwark Park Galleries Open 2024, London
Oct 2024 “Playground” group exhibition by Swan Art, The Handbag Factory Gallery, London
Oct 2023 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London
Sept 2023 Group show, “do not swallow”, London
Mar 2023 Solo show, “In praise of fragments”, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London
Oct 2022 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London
Mar 2022 Solo show, “Second sight”, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London
Oct 2021 The Other Art Fair, London
Mar 2021 Solo show, “the other way to listen”, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London
Oct 2020 Art2Life Exhibition, online
Nov 2019 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London
Oct 2019 Roy’s Art Fair, the Old Truman Brewery, London
Sept 2019 National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London
Mar 2019 Artist’s talk “Us as Nature”, Citylit, London
Jan 2019 The Structure of Things, Bearspace Gallery, London
Sept 2018 National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London
Aug 2018 Japan Exhibition, West Yorkshire Print Workshop, Yorkshire
Oct 2017 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London
Oct 2017 Awagami International Miniature Print Exhibition, Japan
July 2016 Small Print International, touring exhibition in England
Feb 2016 New Home, Mile End Art Pavilion, London
May 2014 Bainbridge Open, Embassy Gallery, London
Dec 2013 Without Boundaries, Menier Gallery, London
Award/ Prize
Sept 2019 Intaglio Printmaker’s prize at National Original Print Exhibition
May 2014 Excellence in Printmaking by East London Printmakers at Bainbridge Open
Sep 2013 Bainbridge Studio Award
Residencies
Nov 2024 JOYA artist residency, Spain
July 2018 Officina Stamperia Del Notaio, Italy
