Miya Ando: On Creativity
*Japanese-Russian-American artist Miya Ando has a solo exhibition forthcoming (November) at Maki Gallery in Tokyo. She has a current solo exhibition at The Asia Society Texas Center titled: "Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form" on view through August 23, 2020.
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Miya
My mother is very knowledgable about Zen, she is a teacher of Urasenke, a style of Japanese tea ceremony. She inspires me endlessly and we discuss Zengo (Zen words) and philosophical ideas. I’m also inspired by historic Japanese literature and poetry and draw inspiration from these sources as well. I lived on 25 acres of redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California, I’m deeply inspired by and have a profound love and respect for nature, the wild and for systems in nature.
My grandfather in Japan was a Buddhist priest and my work is informed by Buddhist thought and principles. Lastly, my dad has a Ph.D. in electrophysics and I’m fascinated by this. My work investigates the notion that "the fundamental nature of reality is that all constituent forms that make up the universe are temporary”, an idea found both in Buddhism as well as quantum physics.
Marianna
Do you have a routine for entering into a creative headspace?
Miya
I am a very early riser, I wake up before 4 AM daily and meditate and think about the day and my next steps on works from the day before. I like to watch the night turn to day and observe the sky, the colors, clouds, moon from my deck every morning. Once I get to the studio I’m in a prepared state to begin the day’s works.
Marianna
Do you have habits you've built for yourself to foster creativity?
Miya
I meditate and keep basically the exact schedule 7 days a week and have done so for 17 years. I’m in the studio every day.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Miya
Introspection.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Miya
Synthesizing your thoughts and executing them.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Miya
When I’m calm.
Marianna
How would you describe your creative process?
Miya
Artwork is thinking. I endeavor to stay on a focused train of thought from one piece to the next, each completed work begets the next work. It’s a continuum of thought and the works are a residue of that thinking process.
Photo credited to Max Yawney.
Marianna
So many creatives are pivoting and finding ways to adjust their creative process during the quarantine. How have you been channeling your creativity during this time?
Miya
I’ve not changed my practice. I live close to my studio so I’ve been continually going to the studio. My assistants are home since we’re still on lockdown and it is unsafe, so things are much slower and quieter and I have been enjoying this. It’s not new, but I’ve reaffirmed the notion that I cherish being alone in my studio.
Marianna
Art and creativity reflect the current culture. Discover anything new or have you been channeling your creativity in new ways?
Miya
I was unable to acquire most of the materials I usually use: wood, metal, glass during COVID. I had indigo and linen in my studio and so I’ve been working with those materials. I’m doing a series of a moon drawing each day during the lockdown, it is a recording of this time. I spent time in Japan as a child in my grandparents’ Buddhist temple. Indigo was ubiquitous, so many things are dyed indigo out in the country and this color gave me solace and comforted me, it brought me back to when I was a child and I felt safe and things were simple and peaceful and I was with my family.
I wanted to surround myself in a cocoon of indigo during COVID and so one room in my studio is converted into a dyeing room with an indigo vat and canvases and drawings everywhere.
Marianna
What unexpected turns did your life take to lead you to become who you are today?
Miya
One unexpected event was that I donated artwork to The San Francisco Zen Center benefit auction in the early 2000s and an art dealer discovered my work there and took me on as an artist, it allowed me to move to New York.
Marianna
What creative projects are you most proud of?
Miya
I sewed a number of mandalas created with Bodhi (Ficus Religiosa, the species of tree under which The Buddha gained enlightenment) leaves and sold them and donated 100% of the proceeds to The Tibetan Nun’s Project (an organization of exiled Buddhist nuns). We raised enough money to house, clothe, feed, education, and provide all necessary funds for 27 nuns for an entire year. This is the project I feel most grateful for and most privileged to have put forth.
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Miya
Harmony and equanimity are things I cherish and I make efforts to create a life of calm. Chaos is a state of mind that is avoidable, in my opinion.
Marianna
What advice would you offer those struggling with creative blocks?
Miya
Try to something every day, even if it’s thinking about the work. Draw or write or read, do something to actively engage your practice daily, and cultivate discipline.
————————
About Miya Ando:
Miya Ando is an American artist whose painting and sculpture articulate themes of perception and examine one’s relationship to time. Ando is a descendant of Bizen sword makers and spent her childhood between a Buddhist temple in Japan as well as in rural Northern California. Her work pays homage to ancient techniques and ideas, fusing them with contemporary materials and forms. She often references historic literary texts and examines the idea that the fundamental nature of reality is that all constituent forms that make up the universe are temporary; a concept found in Buddhism as well as quantum physics.
Ando’s work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions internationally at leading institutions including The Asia Society Museum (Houston), The Noguchi Museum (New York), SCAD Museum (Savannah College of Art and Design), Savannah, GA; The Nassau County Museum (New York) and The American University Museum (Washington DC).
Her work has also been included in extensive group exhibitions at institutions including The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Arkansas), LACMA, Los Angeles, CA; The Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany; Bronx Museum, New York, NY and Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY. Her work is included in the public collections of LACMA, The Nassau County Museum (New York), The Corning Museum of Glass (New York) and The Detroit Institute of Art Museum (DIA), The Luft Museum (Germany), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, among other public institutions as well as in numerous private collections. Ando has been the recipient of several grants and awards including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Award and commission for The Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, CT. She exhibited her work in “Frontiers Reimagined” during the 56th Venice Biennale.
PORTRAIT BY LORRAINE YOUNG.