Artist Name: Kaori Someya
Residency Dates: August – September 2026
Born: 1977
Hometown: Shimane, Japan
Lives & Works: Saitama, Japan
URL: someyakaori.com | Instagram: @someyakaori_offi
Galleries: Ippodo Gallery New York, Gallery Taigado, LE METTÉ GALLERY
Education:
2021 – MA in Conservation (Japanese Painting), Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2000 – BFA in Japanese Painting, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
Bio/Statement:
Kaori Someya is a Japanese painter whose work explores contemporary female identity through traditional Japanese painting materials. Using mineral pigments, ink, and metal leaf on traditional Japanese paper, she creates decorative yet contemplative images of women that reflect the complexities of living in contemporary Japanese society. Her work is influenced by her mother, who made kimonos as a hobby, and her training in traditional mounting techniques, including byōbu (folding screens) and kakejiku (hanging scrolls), during graduate school. Pattern and ornamental structures derived from kimono design often appear in her compositions, suggesting shifting and fleeting landscapes. Through the use of metal leaf and the uniquely Japanese technique known as urahaku (reverse metal leaf), she explores reflective light, invisible margins, and the subtle spatial relationship between artwork and viewer, drawing on Japanese perspectives on light and perception.
Kaori has been part of solo and duo exhibitions such as Duet: The Interplay of Stillness and Motion, Sato Sakura Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2025); a/synchronous, Sato Sakura Gallery, New York, USA (2021). She has also been featured in group exhibitions, among these Light and Abundance: Gold in Japanese Art, Ippodo Gallery, New York, USA (2025); The Next Generation of Nihonga, Selene Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan (2023). She has participated in the International Residency Program at NARS Foundation, New York, USA (2024). Kaori Someya is the recipient of multiple awards from the public juried exhibition and from institutions including Adachi Museum of Art, Sato Sakura Museum, and The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, Japan. Her work is also present in several permanent collections, among these: Adachi Museum of Art, Shimane, Japan; Sato Sakura Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Imai Art Museum, Shimane, Japan; Niimi Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan; The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, Japan. Her publication Kaori Someya — Between the Visible and the Unspoken was published with The Guide Artists, Spain (2025).
Support: Kaori Someya’s residency is made possible with support from the Nomura Foundation.
