Mizuki Nishiyama

Working in abstract figuration, Japanese painter Mizuki Nishiyama delves into the complex theme of cultural identity which stems from her own experience as an Asian female artist. With human experience taking the centerstage, her work encapsulates on fragility and the vivid reality of our being.

If you are interest in Mizuki’s work please email all inquiries to info@mizukinishiyama.com

About

Mizuki Nishiyama’s work sets out to explore human fragility, vulnerability and socio-political issues linked to the broader concept of cultural identity. Her work is largely representative of herself as an Asian female artist and the issues of minority categorization, racial marginalisation and “yellowness” reinvigorated in the society - as in her work - by the worldwide pandemic and her experience living in America. Moreover, her work overlaps themes such as orientalism, cultural reclamation, trauma, loss, and the human experience. Seemingly niche topics, they are all centred around the idea that we are ultimately fragile beings. The paintings hope to respond to our reality, as well as offer an opportunity both to the artist and the audience to reflect.

Her Shunga series, recently exhibited at Whitestone Gallery Hong Kong represent a contemporary approach to the traditional Japanese erotic woodblock prints and explore topics of Asian female experience, male masculinity, purity, intimacy, love, and lust. Funhouse work introspectively looks at the mental and physical tumultuous state of the artist caused by the hormonal imbalance which is a core reality of the female experience addressed by Mizuki. The imagery of stretching, spreading, and contorting within the work is evocative yet twisted; it represents a sense of stability and grip within that discomfort. “With a traumatic past, I’ve learned to confront the discomfort, and the ugly. In revelation, it brought me intimacy, self-care, but also a journey of doubt, and fear” – says Mizuki.

Biography

Mizuki Nishiyama is a twenty-one years old Japanese mixed media artist based in New York and Hong Kong. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art from Parsons school of Design and had seen her work published and exhibited internationally.