About
Ayumi Tanaka is a Japanese-born visual artist based in New York. Using found photographs, self-portraits, and household items, she engages in photomontages that focus on themes of memory and psychological experience, which is her central practice. Tanaka constructs three-dimensional dioramas, composed of overlapping multiple layers of photo collages, assembled and photographed to depict psychological landscapes.
Tanaka’s work has been shown internationally at exhibitions including The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Dumbo Art Festival and United Photo Industries Gallery Brooklyn in New York; Pictura Gallery in Bloomington; LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia; Guthrie Contemporary and NOLA Photo Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana; Nuit Blanche Kyoto; Tokyo Institute of Photography in Tokyo, Mart Photography Center in Russia, Sinkka Museum in Finland and Maison Louis Carré in France. Her work has been reviewed in publications such as New York Times, Blow Photo, PHat Photo, PDN, Lettre International, AFAR, LensCulture, GUP Magazine, Feature Shoot, and Juxtapose Magazine.
Tanaka earned her BFA from Osaka University of Arts in Japan and studied at the International Center of Photography in New York. She is the recipient of Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Photography Competition, Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50, Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Award, PDN’s 30 New and Emerging Photographer to Watch, International Center of Photography Director Fellowship, and New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship.