Miya Ando

(American/Japanese, born 1973)

Miya Ando is a contemporary American-Japanese artist celebrated for her Post-Minimalist paintings and sculptures. Often consisting of landscape compositions—with a low depth-of field focus, resembling skyscapes or misty forest scenes—on steel "canvases," her works are created using a variety of materials including dye, water, and resin. Approaching her practice through the lens of Buddhism, Ando explains that “mushin is the total absorption in a single task—meditation, prayer, sanding metal. I approach my studio practice as a practice of mushin—a complete focus on the physical task of creating my works. The intention is to go toward a state of non-duality and loss of ego.” Born on October 28, 1973 in Los Angeles, CA, her early life was shaped by her familial ties to Japanese spirituality and object-making. As a relative of traditional bizen sword-makers, she spent her early life in a Japanese Buddhist temple, absorbing an ethos of light and metal. Following her education in East Asian studies and Buddhist iconography at the University of California Berkeley and Yale University, the artist has received significant critical acclaim. In 2011, she notably completed a commissioned 9/11 Memorial sculpture, Since 9/11, containing beams from the original World Trade Center. Her work has been exhibited globally, including at the 56th Venice Biennale, and she continues to live and work in New York City, New York.