Bio:

Mayumi Lake (b. Osaka, Japan) is an interdisciplinary artist currently living and working in Chicago. Her work delves into childhood and pubescent dreams, phobia and desires. She employs herself and others as her models, as well as dolls, toys, weapons, vintage clothes, and altered landscapes as her props.

Mayumi received her BFA with a focus in Photography and Filmmaking, and an MFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has published two monographs from Nazraeli Press. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Fine Arts, Huston, Asia Society, Joy of Giving Something Foundation, and more.

Statement:

Driven by my childhood fantasy, phobia, and desire, my artwork interacts with the ideas of time, memory, and floating between the real and imaginary. I use photography to weave my autobiographical narrative - from the mimicry of prepubescent flesh surrounded by soft pastel clothing to emotionally-charged landscapes with a solitary girl soldier standing, and darkly illuminated and saturated stereotyped females to bright and sparkly photo-sculptural mythical flowers. I also incorporate sculpture, sound, moving images, and installation to expand my narrative into more complex layers. 

As a Japanese immigrant who has been living in the U.S for over 20 years, my work is continually floating/shifting between states: East and West, longing and hope, memories and oblivion, and past and future. I am interested in archiving things that could be forgotten or become obsolete over time - otherwise, I will forget where I came from. The awareness of impermanence of things, or "Mono-No-Aware" in Japanese, has turned into an obsession and obligation to preserve the past as knowledge for the future. The idea of photography works very well to freeze and package the floating moments to archive them. 

Although my obsession is rooted in a very personal narrative, I believe that the most personal is the most universal. In this way, I evoke emotional reactions from my viewers.