Rain, clouds, moonlight, mist—Miya Ando has long been attentive to fleeting natural phenomena that appear and disappear, through which she continues to contemplate “time.” Working with materials such as aluminum, glass, and paper, she creates works that respond to light, air, and the presence of the viewer, revealing ever-changing expressions from moment to moment. Her practice weaves together nature and material, stillness and light, gently unsettling our perception and memory. In this interview, we explore how she observes and reflects on “time,” and how she transforms perception itself into her artistic practice, offering insight into the essence of her work.
How would you describe your artistic practice to someone encountering your work for the first time?
My work examines fleeting phenomena in the natural world as expressions of time and the ways in which we perceive it. Through painting, sculpture, installation, and artist books, I investigate rain, clouds, moonlight, mist, and seasonal transition as a means of reflecting on our own passage through the world.
Working from New York and across materials such as aluminum, steel, wood, glass, and paper, what would you say is the core of your artistic practice?
Time and observation provide the foundation of my practice. Every material is chosen for its ability to register light, atmosphere, and duration, allowing each body of work to investigate time in a different way.
Many of your works reference rain, clouds, and the Japanese concept of the 72 microseasons. What kind of dialogue takes place between these fleeting natural phenomena and the permanence of materials such as aluminum in your work?
Rain, clouds, and the seventy-two microseasons reveal time through continual change. Aluminum extends that transformation into the work itself. Its reflective surface changes with light, atmosphere, and the movement of the viewer, allowing the work to remain responsive rather than fixed.
What moments or experiences tend to inspire you most during the creative process?
Observation forms the foundation of my practice. I’m inspired by quiet moments that are easy to overlook, such as rainfall, clouds, moonlight, mist, and seasonal transitions. Through sustained observation, these fleeting conditions become a way of understanding time and the ways in which we perceive it.
Tokyo Gendai will present new and recent works by you. What are your thoughts on exhibiting in Japan, and what would you like visitors to experience through your work?
Exhibiting in Japan carries deep personal significance, and I’m always grateful for the opportunity to do so. Although I am half Japanese, my appearance has often led people to question my Japanese identity. Living both within Japanese culture and being perceived as outside of it has shaped my sustained practice of observation. I don’t believe there is a single way the work should be experienced. Every viewer brings a different history, memory, and way of seeing. My own experience of the work is one of quiet. What follows belongs to the viewer.
Thank you very much! We look forward to seeing your work in September.
Feel Miya Ando’s Stillness at the Fair
Dates:
11-13 September 2026 (Fri-Sun) *Vernissage: 10 September (Thu)
Venue:
Pacifico Yokohama
Booth:
Sundaram Tagore Gallery
Ticket Purchase:
MIYA ANDO
Born in 1973, Los Angeles, Miya Ando’s paintings, sculptures and installation artworks have been the subject of solo exhibitions at Asia Society Texas, Houston; The Noguchi Museum, New York; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia; Nassau County Museum of Art, New York; and American University Museum, Washington, DC. In November of 2025, The MIT Press published the book Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words, which Ando wrote and illustrated.
Work by Ando has been showcased in group exhibitions at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Haus der Kunst, Munich; and Bronx Museum and Queens Museum, New York.
Ando’s work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Nassau County Museum of Art; Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona; Santa Barbara Museum of Art; and The Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California; among other public institutions.
Ando has been the recipient of several grants and awards including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Award, and has produced numerous public commissions, including a thirty-foot-tall sculpture built from World Trade Center steel installed in Olympic Park in London to mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, for which she was nominated for a DARC Award in Best Light Art Installation. Ando was commissioned to create artwork for the historic Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut.
The artist holds a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from the University of California, Berkeley; pursued East Asian studies at Yale University and Stanford University; and apprenticed with a master metalsmith in Japan.
Ando lives and works in New York.
