Naoko NISHIYAMA
1985 born in Nara (currently residing in Tokyo)
B.A. in Literature, Nara Women’s University
Exchange Program, Faculty of Letters, University of Paris VII
Master in Humanities and Sociology, University of Tokyo
My painting practice explores how a “sense of presence” is constructed through a quiet process of accumulation. In my paintings, form does not emerge all at once. It is gradually built up through the repeated application of lines, the layering of paint, and the gradual transformation of the canvas. This process allows the viewer to intuitively grasp a state of “becoming”—one that is etched in time, constantly changing, and at once fleeting yet enduring.
The central motif in my work is thread. While unstable on its own, it acquires structural strength as it crosses, intertwines, and increases in density. I see in this not only a metaphor for the formation of the inner self, but also a formal principle. Lines become rhythm, tension, and weave, constructing the pictorial space.
Through layers of color, linear traces, and the interplay of delicate elements, I seek to express the energy flowing within the motif. My work attempts to depict a “site of emergence” where form gradually takes shape amidst density, vibration, and silence.
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■Solo exhibitions
2026 “La Nausée” (Art Space Rashimban, Tokyo, Japan)
2025 “Vivid Flow” (Kobe Hankyu At Trunk Gallery, Kobe, Japan)
2020 “Between Abstraction and Representation” (Wine salon veraison, Osaka, Japan)
■Selected Juried Exhibitions
2025
The 81th Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan)
Formless Exhibition (Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, USA)
The big small show (Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, USA)
2024
The 80th Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo National Art Center, Tokyo)
The 12th Tokyo Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan)
2023
The 79th Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan)
The 11th Tokyo Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan)
2022
The 78th Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan)
The 10th Tokyo Gen-ten Exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan)
■Group Exhibitions
2026
swimmy2026 (Atelier Sangatsu, Osaka, Japan)
2025
80th Gen-ten: Award Winners Exhibition (Gallery Shimon, Tokyo, Japan)
AXIS EAST Exhibition (Art Space Rashimban, Tokyo, Japan)
Art Exhibition: Right Here, Right Now (Chakian Gallery, Osaka, Japan)
Roma Art EXPO (Medina Gallery, Rome, Italy)
art expo NEW YORK (Pier 36, New York, USA)
Kyoto Art Fair 2025 (Gallery Kokowan, Kyoto, Japan)
ZEROTEN2025 -Osaka- (ART GALLERY UMEDA, Osaka, Japan)
2024
AXIS EAST Exhibition (Art Space Rashimban, Tokyo, Japan)
Neo Universe Exhibition (Chakian Gallery, Osaka, Japan)
80th Anniversary Kyoto Art Fair (Gallery Kokowan, Kyoto, Japan)
Art Shopping Paris (Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France)
Interconnecting Lines (One Art Space, New York, USA)
JAPAN ART WEEK in Breeze Taipei (Breeze Center, Taipei, Taiwan)
Tatsukon 2024 (GALLERY Tatsuya, Aichi, Japan)
2023
“AXIS EAST Exhibition” Art Space Rashinban (Tokyo, Japan)
“ZEROTEN OSAKA 2023” ART GALLERY UMEDA (Osaka, Japan)
“#Self-Recommendation Question and Answer Exhibition” Gallery Tatsuya (Aichi, Japan)
“The 9th Miniature ZERO2023” Saigado S-SPACE (Iwate, Japan)
“ZEROTEN AICHI 2023” Gallery Tatsuya (Aichi, Japan)
“Tatsuya Aquarium of Animals and Plants” Gallery Tatsuya (Aichi, Japan)
“TATSUKON Super” Gallery Tatsuya (Aichi, Japan)
2022
“Tokyo Genten New Year Exhibition” Court Gallery Kunitachi (Tokyo, Japan)
“GENTEN New Year Art Fair 2022” Galerie Shimon (Tokyo, Japan)
“ZEROTEN 2022 TOKYO” GALLERY TATSUYA TOKYO (Tokyo, Japan)
“Summer Selection Exhibition” Galerie Shimon (Tokyo, Japan)
2020
“Cabbage Exhibition” Boji art+hair gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
“The 6th KANSEI no Breath Exhibition” MIRAIE Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
“ZEROTEN2020” GALLERY TATSUYA TOKYO (Tokyo, Japan)
“ZEROTEN2020” (18th out of 100), GALLERY TATSUYA (Aichi, Japan)
“LIFETIME Exhibition” Boji art+hair gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
“TATSUPRE 2020” selected GALLERY TATSUYA TOKYO (Tokyo, Japan)
“Exhibition in Yakitoriwa” Roppongi (Tokyo, Japan)
“TATSUCON 2020” GALLERY TATSUYA (Aichi, Japan)
■Awards
2024
80th Anniversary Gen-ten, awarded the 80th Anniversary Exhibition Prize
2023
2nd Tokyo World Exhibition – Paris 2023 – awarded the Excellent Prize
11th Tokyo Gen-ten, awarded Encouragement Prize
2021
77th Gen-ten, awarded the Rookie of the Year Prize