Misako Inaoka, studied fine art in the United States and Italy, is currently living and working in Kyoto, Japan.
Statement
My interests arise from the delicate boundaries that exist between the natural and the artificial. By closely observing the physical and social environment around me, I find hidden beauty and peculiarity, such as a cell towers posing as a pine tree, a flock of non-native birds, coyotes thriving in urban parks, hybrid species thriving in nature, tree branches growing through wire fence, or moss growing in a crack of cement sidewalk. I emphasize these subtle details and exaggerate their illogicality to cultivate my own version of invented creatures and landscapes.
In our society the boundaries between what is artificial and natural, what is manipulating and manipulated, become obscured. By inventing new hybrid species and landscapes, I am exploring the co-existence of natural and artificial forms.
News/Up-Coming
2015 Nov.26th-Dec.5th Youno-kai-ten, Umeda Garo(Gallery), Osaka, JAPAN
2015 Dec.5th-2016 Jan.2nd Altered Books, Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Education
BFA 2001 RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) RI, United States
MFA 2006 Mills College, CA, United States
RESUME
Selected Solo Exhibition
2015 Wild Wild Life, Dominican University,
2014 Fractured Fauna, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
2012 Back Domain, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
2012 Muted Imprints, Boca Raton Museum of Fine Art, FL
2010 Guided Growth, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
2009 Natural Selection, Galleri Urbane, Marfa/Dallas, TX
2009 Survival Game, David Salow Gallery, Los Angels, CA
2007 Origin of Species, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, SF, CA
2006 Secret Nature, Blankspace, Oakland, CA
2005 Invisible City of Moon Watching Plants, View 155, SF Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 The first twenty-four hoursî ATAWindow Installation, SF, CA
2002 The Microfiche, The Back Room Gallery,SF, CA
2000 Le Onde, solo installation, Cenci Gallery, Rome, ITALY
Selected Group Exhibition
2014 Cat Art Show LA, 101 exhibit, Los Angels, CA
2013 Alive, Laguna Beach Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 Matcha, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
2012 Evolutionary Insight, Worth Ryder Gallery, US Berkeley,
2011 Mini Size Me, Bakersfield Museum (BMA), Bakersfield
2011 MA2 Gallery, three person show, Tokyo, JAPAN
2010 VOLTA, NY Art Fair, site-specific installation, NY, NY
2009 Green, ICA San Jose, San Jose, CA
2009 What is Isnít, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
2009 Natural Blunders, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA
2008 BAY Area Now 5, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2008 Contocore, Ping Ping Space, Guangzhou, CHINA
2008 Sol, two person show, Gallery Trex, Yatugatake, JAPAN
2008 Birdwatch, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, ID
2008 Homegrown, PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
Awards/Grants/Residencies
2012 Gerd Koch & Carole Milton Grants, Ventura, CA
2011 Environmental Biennale, I-park residency, East Haddam, CT
2010 Montalvo Residency, Irvine Fellowship, Saratoga, CA
2010 Washington Award, S & R Foundation, Washington DC
2008 de Young Museum, Artist-in-Residency program, SF, CA
2007 Headlands Art Center, Artist-in-Residency, Marin, CA
2007 MacDowell Colony, Artist-in-Residency, NH
2005 Trefethen Merit Award, Oakland, CA
2005 Eklind Fellowship, Oakland, CA
2005 Frank Herringer Foundation, scholarship, CA