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A rough, barnacle-like shape with teal, gold, and red colors
Ritual Form of Inspiration, 2016, Tomita Mikiko (Japanese, b. 1972), glazed porcelain, Lent by the Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection, L11.2024, © Tomita Mikiko, Photography by Makoto Omotaka

Influence(d): Female Innovators in Contemporary Japanese Design

January 14, 2025–January 11, 2026
Gallery 136

Highlighting the work of 10 contemporary Japanese female artists who are challenging the boundaries of design in ceramics and fashion, this multimedia special feature explores their exceptional achievements through the lens of influence. Each artist simultaneously has influence—through their cultivation of distinctive practices, techniques, and philosophies—and is influenced, drawing inspiration from their teachers and peers, their surroundings and the natural world, and even their own rich interior lives.

Equally celebrating these contemporary artists for their roles as vital innovators in their respective fields and as female creatives in historically male-saturated spaces, this new display encourages us to consider their multifaceted experiences and even reflect on our own creative pursuits in a new way.