Miki Ishiyama
Lobes of the hot spring
Atami, both now and in the past, is a place that owes its very existence to its ‘hot springs.’ While the value of these springs has changed with the times, it continues to be preserved to this day. If only we could distribute Atami’s energy from this city to the entire country, just as the once-existing ‘donated hot springs’ did… I yearn to resurrect that energy through my paintings. As if offering hot spring water to a withered lobe of the brain, I will paint in Atami, tapping and gliding my brush across the canvas.
Perhaps an unknown power, transcending the hot springs themselves, will be born.
◆ATAMI ART RESIDENCE Special Curation Program
Curator: Seiha Kurosawa
Participating Artists: Miki Ishiyama, Koichi Sato, Monica Hapsari
Curatorial Assistant: Phiraya Ardwichai
Sponsors: Toho High School 31st Graduates Kichijoji Society, VOLOCITEE, Yuki Tokuhiro, Hanazono Alley, Kenji Hirasawa, Isukura
Cooperation: The Chain Museum / ArtSticker
Miki Ishiyama completed her BA in oil painting at Tama Art University in 2022 and her MA in painting at oil-painting department of Tokyo University of the Arts. in 2024. Born in Hokkaido and now lives and works in the Kanto area. As she is particularly interested in symbolist mysticism and religious beliefs for human beings, she has conducted research that redefines the essential proposition of human emotions, a proposition that is essential for us today through cultural anthropology, he. In recent years, Ishiyama’s research has extended to religious sites, cemeteries, festivals and ethnic cultures in Eastern Europe, and she questions what is ‘evil’ through artworks.
