Hyakunen

Emi Mizukami was born in 1992 in Tokyo, where she currently lives. 

Emi Mizukami’s paintings possess the power of persuasion and the evanescent character of a dreamlike episode. This drawing force is due, first and foremost, to the unique technical process from which they emerge. The artist accumulates a series of narrative layers on the canvas, each drawn in pencil or painted in acrylic, which are then covered with sand paste before receiving new scenes. In this way, painting proceeds as much by erasure as by addition. Even when finished, it always seems to be in the process of coming into being, like a fleeting apparition. Its uneven surface abounds in surprises, shadows, shapes in transition, and bursts of color from who knows which geological layer. The work is a palimpsest that bears the traces of past gestures and events. This material, constitutive relationship with history and the invisible is reflected in Mizukami's iconography. These often include specters and other imaginary figures drawn from the myths and folklore of various civilizations, from scholarly and popular literature, the history of painting, video games, and manga. In this way, through her bewitching paintings, the artist seems to be carrying out an archaeological excavation of our own imaginations.   

Her work is represented by 4649 (Tokyo) and Ehrlich Steinberg (Los Angeles)