artist-IN-RESIDENCE
June 12-26, 2025
Mami Takahashi
Mami Takahashi is a multidisciplinary artist from Tokyo, who currently lives in Chicago. Previous exhibitions and performances have taken place at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco; International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL; The International Museum of Art, El Paso, TX; Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Canada; Gwangju Folk Art Museum, Korea; Instituto Municipal del Arte la Cultura, Mexico and Toriizaka Art Gallery, Tokyo, among other venues. She holds an MFA from Portland State University, and a BFA from Joshibi University of Art in Japan. Takahashi is a recipient of the Ford Family Award for MASS MoCA residency.
Using painting, performance, video, poetry, and painting, my practice explores the complex relationship between “us” and “others.”
Being the first immigrant in my family and a non-native English speaker in the U.S., my visual practice incorporates my awkward experience in this new culture. There is an ongoing struggle with the complex meaning of being “American” and “foreigner” with the millions of immigrants that came before. A quote by Ai Weiwei describes how I approach my art practice: “If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?”
These thoughts pushed the conceptual aspect of my practice. With ongoing research and experimentation, my artistic practice has grown, leading me to explore new methods of realizing my ideas for meaning-making. For example, In 2014, I started a series of performances every day to visualize my response to social, cultural, and political questions. Through my work, I explored my discomfiture with regard to the difference in social expectations and norms.
Community Engagement
