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Izumi Miyazaki
My name is Izumi Miyazaki and I am a Pittsburgh based artist. My work is overwhelmingly figurative and often deals with my upbringing as a Japanese-American woman. I am most interested in acrylic and oil paintings as well as marker drawings. My primary influences are Enrico Robusti, Marc Chagall, anime, and Japanese woodblock prints.
Artist: Izumi Miyazaki
Based in Pittsburgh, PA
Instagram:
zumimiyazaki
Culturally Arts Collective features:
"Broken Mirrors", June 10 - July 22 2022, Milostka Center for Exhibitions
What do you aim to say by the themes in your art?
I want my art to create a world that my audience wants to join. Many of my paintings have a very physically inclusive composition in which the viewer is part of the composition, sitting amongst the figures within a circle, or seems to have walked in and interrupted a very close knit group of figures. Whatever themes I portray within my art, I want the viewers to be considered within the composition.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Much of my inspiration comes from the visual culture I have been exposed to as the child of Japanese parents. Many of the early TV shows I grew up with were anime and the books and manga I read had very distinct lines and colors that were different from many American-style books and cartoons. As I grew older, my inspiration came from figurative artists like Egon Schiele, Enrico Robusti, Kehinde Wilde, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Marc Chagall.
Do you have experiences that impacted your art?
Meeting more artists definitely has widened the scope of what I believed that I could do. Surrounding myself with many more creative people as I entered college allowed me to build confidence surrounding my art making and gave me new perspectives that I could communicate through my art.
Do you feel your art challenges existing barriers?
I believe my art challenges existing barriers in that it draws attention to problems that Japanese women have always experienced and that Japanese American women go through daily. My work often centers around the topic of sexism and racism and I believe those are topics that can be discussed in several different nuanced ways throughout my works.
What are your long-term artistic goals?
My long term artistic goal is to be a full-time working artist primarily doing exhibitions.
What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
My advice for aspiring artists is to keep making art and exposing yourself to a wider array of art that can inspire you.
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