Kimiyo Mishima is an artist who was born in Osaka in 1932. She kicked off her painting journey as a teenager, but didn’t really find her voice in the 1950s and 60s through art movements like Art Informel, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art. Put them all together, and you have a sort of street art that preceeds the street art movement by 50 years. Mixing techniques like collage and repetitive imagery to get her point across, her work was quite unique for her time. Even today, you see echos of what she made in modern streeet and pop art.
Mishima often dove into feelings of fear and anxiety about our info-overloaded world, where everything can feel super overwhelming. Most of these works were responses to the over-commercialism that accompanied Japan’s economic boom and bubble, which she experienced first hand. She takes inspiration from current issues that are important but often tossed aside like yesterday’s news. In 1971, she began been making ceramics that she describes as funny “breakable printed matter.” She uses her self-taught silkscreen methods to transfer stuff like newspapers and ads onto her ceramic sculptural pieces, giving them a playful twist.
Ceramic sculptures of every day street objects were a constant theme in her work. An excellent example is her series on “Newspaper,” which is made from paper and magazines, all tied together with copper wires, and it really captures how fragile our society is when bombarded by so much information. With her signature ironic humor, Mishima’s ceramics turn info into something you can hold, while also highlighting how easily these objects can end up as waste.
Kimiyo Mishima passed away in 2024. Some of her works are currently on display at Kyoto’s Sokyo Gallery.
