For hundreds of years the alchemists toiled away in their secret labs concocting chemicals and pigments they hoped would turn metal to gold. But for Miya Ando, the New York-based artist who’s a descendant of Bizen sword makers, she’s found her own way to make metals shine.
Using a combination of heat, sandpaper, grinders and acid, Ando “paints” her metallic canvases by “irrevocably altering the material’s chemical properties.” Ando’s new series, phenomenon, builds on her past work of producing light-reflecting gradients on metal but adds an element of interaction: the surfaces appear to change based on light and movement of the viewer.
In addition, Ando is also presenting a new series titled kintsugi. Inspired by Japan’s ancient craft of repairing broken ceramics using gold lacquer, Ando has turned her shou-sugi-ban, a charred wood often used as an exterior building material, into a canvas. Delicate gold kintsugi lined the cracks of the charred wood, as if gold light was emanating from the structure.
Ando’s solo exhibition The Nature of Perception is on display at Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Chelsea, New York through July 1, 2016.
Giveaway
We have 3 copies of Miya Ando’s latest portfolio book to giveaway. And each comes with an insert of her gorgeous business card made from skeleton leaves of a Bodhi tree. The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. Here’s how you can win a copy:
- Leave a comment below
- Have a look at our studio visit we did, and check out our shop where we sell Ando’s tetsu to kinu scarf
- We’ll choose 3 random winners at the end of the week on Saturday, June 18th
- That’s it!
June 12, 2016 at 10:42 pm
You are my go to blog for Japanese art.
Great job.. Rock on !!
June 12, 2016 at 10:44 pm
Extremely nice and inspiring works, I wish I could visit her exhibition in Brooklyn. ! Will be waiting for the next one in Tokyo !
June 12, 2016 at 10:50 pm
Love her work!
June 12, 2016 at 11:03 pm
Inspiring stuff, such delicateness.
June 12, 2016 at 11:04 pm
Beautiful!
June 12, 2016 at 11:04 pm
This looks really nice, and inspires me. Knowledge of the original material is as important as knowledge of what you are manipulating it with. It all starts with composing the original alloy. But also, during the process, it’s necessary to listen to what the work has to say about itself, and to respond to it’s needs. Accidents are often as important as intentional results.
June 13, 2016 at 12:24 am
That second piece is amazing! Thanks for doing the studio visits series, I’ve enjoyed all of them immensely.
June 13, 2016 at 12:33 am
Awesome idea and very good workmanship! Perfect!
June 13, 2016 at 1:04 am
The kintsugi pieces are so beautiful. Very creative take on a traditional practice.
June 13, 2016 at 1:09 am
Such gorgeous work.
June 13, 2016 at 1:23 am
Love her work!
June 13, 2016 at 1:28 am
LOVE!
June 13, 2016 at 2:20 am
I remember her work from your studio visit! Thanks for sharing all these beautiful treasure on your blog, really make my day!
June 13, 2016 at 2:32 am
Beautiful work!
June 13, 2016 at 2:57 am
These are just gorgeous!
June 13, 2016 at 3:04 am
Intriguing textures contrasting charred wood & metal – will watch for UK exhibitions
June 13, 2016 at 3:32 am
Sublime
June 13, 2016 at 4:09 am
Oh wow, her work is amazing!!
June 13, 2016 at 4:36 am
So beautiful!
June 13, 2016 at 4:42 am
Such lovely work – using the principles of the material itself to make art.
June 13, 2016 at 5:30 am
Such a cool method to this.
June 13, 2016 at 7:34 am
Miya Ando’s work is truly genius and inspirational, her versatile approach using different mediums like the use ephemeral leaves to symbolize boats for her ethereal 24 hour installation as a homage to the thousands of refugees who crossed by boat to Puerto Rico in 2012; Her technique to dye metals inspired by Japanese indigo-dying process aizome and the combining of two techniques that of kintsugi (Japanese: golden joinery) and shou sugi ban (the Traditional Japanese Art of Charred Cedar) for her last installations make her one of kind in the artistic community. Worth a mention is the commissioned by the 9/11 London Project to commemorate the attack on the World Trade Center towers.
June 13, 2016 at 8:40 am
Interesting way to create a metallic look.
June 13, 2016 at 8:52 am
Absolutely stunning work with metal. I’m 73 and am still evolving – from Colonial style to contemporary. Electric Blue was my favorite color and
now I enjoy shades of teal and turquoise. I have been to the Sequoia Nat. Forest and appreciate the various shades of the woods to work with. You are a very talented woman and wish you much success. Look at http://www.rcronin.com as
you will appreciate the intense colors used. Richard was my neighbor and passed over 2 years ago. I miss his wild expressions of our world. I do enjoy your
work and look forward to seeing more.
June 13, 2016 at 9:33 am
I really like the small bits from her studio, especially the piece of paper with “rights” on it. I also love how she answered your son’s questions, not only with words but also with drawings. And the scarf is lovely – way too expensive for me but lovely nevertheless!
June 13, 2016 at 10:38 am
Hadn’t heard of her before but this is amazing. I would love to have a sample of her work here in my desk for constant inspiration.
June 13, 2016 at 10:51 am
儚い
June 13, 2016 at 11:15 am
This is fantastic work! I’m excited to check out her exhibit!
June 13, 2016 at 11:43 am
Most of the upper works look like the ocean. I wonder whether that’s even more true in real since the reflective properties are somewhat similar.. so beautiful.
June 13, 2016 at 11:54 am
thank you for introducing Miya Ando to me!
June 13, 2016 at 12:20 pm
wonderful art – Bravo!
June 13, 2016 at 12:28 pm
They’re so beautiful and serene.
June 13, 2016 at 12:49 pm
Simply beautiful!
June 13, 2016 at 1:28 pm
Lovely.
June 13, 2016 at 1:41 pm
I especially love the charred wood with kintsugi cracks. Fabulous texture.
June 13, 2016 at 2:03 pm
I love kintsugi!
June 13, 2016 at 2:30 pm
I would love to use her art as a jumping off point for my students in Japanese class!
June 13, 2016 at 2:56 pm
How wabi sabi!
June 13, 2016 at 4:36 pm
Beautiful concept and execution by Maya! Love Spoon and Tamago for introducing me to amazing art and ideas.
June 13, 2016 at 6:29 pm
Miya Ando’s new body of work has an incredibly soothing feel to it. Some of paintings strongly reminds me of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s seascape photographs. How she rendered the metals is quite avant-garde and delicate in my opinion.
June 13, 2016 at 6:51 pm
Looks beautiful. Would have loved to see it in person.
Love your blog, takes me to great places in Tokyo.
June 13, 2016 at 7:01 pm
Her work looks beautiful on screen – it must be spectacular in real life so I hope she has an exhibition in the U.K soon
June 14, 2016 at 3:24 am
Fantasy art work!
June 14, 2016 at 7:18 am
Miya’s work is so fantastic. Such a sweet gal!!!
June 14, 2016 at 8:35 am
美しいもの。Bravo à elle! Grazie per il tuo S&T. And read you soon…
June 14, 2016 at 9:21 am
Very nice. I like everything Miya Ando makes…
June 14, 2016 at 9:32 am
Count me in 😀 !
June 14, 2016 at 11:17 am
Beautiful, I’d love to see them first hand!
June 14, 2016 at 12:48 pm
Miya Ando is my favorite contemporary artist!!! She and her works are absolutely beautiful. Maybe it’s because I’m half Japanese myself, but looking at her pieces make me feel connected to home. The instill a sense of bewonderment and magic. I’ve seen her works at Sundaram Tagore before, and they are magnificent. Someday when I’m a professional art historian, I want to write a book about her. What an interesting person, such talent and skill. <3
June 14, 2016 at 2:29 pm
Looks amazing! I really need to travel to Japan 🙂