STATEMENT

My artistic practice investigates the complexities of immigration, identity, language, and cultural transition. Through photography, performance, installation, video, poetry, painting, and participatory interventions, I explore the tension between “us” and “others”—a dynamic often felt viscerally by those who, like myself, have navigated the experience of being an Asian woman adapting to life in the United States.

There is a continual struggle with the layered meanings of being both “American” and “foreigner,” a duality shaped by the experiences of millions of immigrants before me. While our journeys are individual and diverse, they are often connected by a common path marked by fear, resilience, and hope. A quote by Ai Weiwei encapsulates the heart of my approach:

“If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?”

This ethos drives the conceptual core of my practice. Through ongoing research and experimentation, I have developed a process rooted in storytelling, social engagement, and symbolic material exploration. In 2014, I initiated a daily performance series to physically express my personal responses to political and cultural questions. Between 2020 and 2023, I expanded this Seeing You/Seeing Me, project to a participatory performance project involving local immigrant communities in cities across the U.S. and abroad, including Austin, TX; Colton, OR; North Adams, MA; Columbia, MO; Santa Fe, NM; Rabun Gap, GA; and Baku, Azerbaijan. Together, we engaged in public performances that opened space for shared reflection on the immigrant experience.

Currently, I am researching the immigration histories of Asian women, with the goal of expanding my sound and video installation project. This new phase will focus on incorporating the voices of Asian immigrant women, creating intimate, site-responsive works that bring visibility to their lived experiences. Through layered sound, sculpture, and participatory storytelling, I aim to create environments that invite deep listening and empathetic engagement.

C.V.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
2023 Seeing You/Seeing Me: Conversations in Baku – performance, Salam Cinema, Baku, Azerbaijan
Seeing You/Seeing Me: Conversations in MO – exhibition and performance as part of the 2023 True/False Film Fest, Columbia, MO
2022 Kintsugi: Healing Through Japanese Art – International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL
Seeing You/Seeing Me: Conversation – Carnation Contemporary, Portland, OR
2020 My Voice/ Our Voice - Blackfish Gallery, Portland OR
2019 My Word is Hard to Hear - Blackfish Gallery, Portland OR
2016 Tsurezuregusa for Vermont - Mary Sky, Hancock, VT
2015 de⋅mar⋅cate - Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR.
2014 com·mu·ni·ca·tion - Dengerink Gallery, Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, WA
2013 Room Tone - Instructed Performance by Lucy Raven and Rebecca Gates, TBA:13 Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Umeru 埋 - MK Gallery at PSU, Portland, OR
2008 Her Loneliness - Toriizaka Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

ART COLLECTIVE/TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONs AND PERFORMANCES
2024  You Burden Your Mouth - sound performance with Adrian McBride- International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL
We Live in the Sky: Home, Displacement, Identity exhibition with Tori Ellison- Stamp Gallery at University of Maryland, College Park, MD
My Word is Hard to Hear – exhibition with Adrian McBride – Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL
Who Knows - sound performance and installation with Adrian McBride, International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL
2023 Are You Here? - sound Installation by Spiral Body (Mami Takahashi+Adrian McBride), International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL (forthcoming)
Entangled Memories -S.E.M. Collective (Mami Takahashi, Eden Radfarr, and Sarah Nguyen), UCM Gallery of Art & Design, Warrensburg, MO (forthcoming)
2022  Are You Here? - sound Installation by Spiral Body, Oregon Contemporary, Portland, OR
Entangled Reflections– S.E.M. Collective, LSMSA Gallery, Natchitoches, LA
2014   Collaboration with Adrian McBride - Kincainya, Portland, OR
2006  East Meets West with Jennifer Sinclair - The International Museum of Art, El Paso, TX
2005 An Olfactory Factory Essence with Laura Drogoul –International House and Design Festa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES (*catalog)
2025   Life, curated by Arnold Kemp, Artist Space, NY, NY (Forthcoming May-August)
Untitled 19, curated by Keisha Williams, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN (Forthcoming February 15 - March 23)
2023   Act of Hearing and Repair: Bellingham National 2023 Juried Art Exhibition, curated by Grace Kook-Anderson, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
Art + Place + Community: 10 Years with Good Hart Artist Residency, Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey, MI
Entangled Memories – exhibition with Eden Radfarr, and Sarah Nguyen, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
2022   Entangled Reflections– exhibition with Eden Radfarr, and Sarah Nguyen,, LSMSA Gallery, Natchitoches, LA
UNDERCURRENTS, curated by Kristina Newman-Scott – Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Blind Date - Carnation Contemporary, Portland OR
North Louisiana Virtual Residency exhibition -The Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation, Ruston, LA
Here + Now – juried by Francine Weiss, Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA
6th Louisiana Biennial – SOD Gallery at Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA
2021    Coalesce - Stelo Art and Culture Foundation, Portland OR
Close Encounters – MASS Gallery, Austin TX
2020   Another Idea: an actual conceptual art exhibition- Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry at the University of Chicago, Chicago IL*
The Unknown Artist, Curated by Lucy Cotter- Center for Contemporary Art & Culture, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland OR*
Around the Narrative Lens - Ford Gallery, Portland OR
2019    A PART - PLACE Gallery, Portland OR
2018    I Came From Far Away, But I Am Here Now - Curated by Hester Coucke, The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR
Artist’s Vision - Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Lakewood Center, Lake Oswego, OR
The Mask - Loosen Art - Millepiani Gallery, Italy *
Masterful Moxie: The Power of Art - Scharpenberg Gallery DANK Haus, Chicago, IL *
Art as Refuge - 510 Museum & ARTspace, Lake Oswego, OR
2017    Brown People Are Wrens in the Parking Lot- Curated by William Pope.L, Logan Center at University of Chicago, IL
2017    Visual Chronicle of Portland - Portland Building, Portland, OR (Commissioned)
2016    Beyond the barrier of sound and soon, of light - aka Artist-Run, Saskatchewan, Canada
2015    Within/Without 2014-2015 Papermaking Residency - c3:initiative, Portland, OR
2014    The Missing Body - Curated by Cindy Baker, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Alberta, Canada *
Garden of Flame - Gwangju Folk Art Museum, Gwangju, Korea *
2013     Room Tone -Instructed performance at TBA:13 Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Maybe - Place Gallery, Portland, OR
Here Come the Warm Jets - UpFor Contemporary Art curated by Jeanine Jablonski, Portland, OR *
Irreversible Reaction - Experimental Film Festival, Light+Sound Window Gallery, Portland, OR
Sometimes Between Notions, Ditch Project Gallery, Springfield, OR
2012    The Summer is Over Before It’s Begun - Autzen Gallery at Portland State University, Portland, OR
Pacific Northwest Art Annual - Adell McMillan Gallery at University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
13:13 - Swell Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
13:13 - The Gallery of Visual Art at the Montana University, MT
2009    Retrospective Works - Arizona Art Expo, Scottsdale, AZ
2008    Gotas De Alegra – instituto Municipal del Arte y la Cultura, DG, Mexico

ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2025      Good Hart Artist Residency - Harbor Springs, MI
Stove Works – Chattanooga, TN
2024     Oak Park Art League- Oak Park, IL
No Nation – Chicago, IL
2023 Tardino(6) Art Platform – Baku, Azerbaijan
Visual Artist Residency as part of 2023 True/False Film Fest, Columbia, MO
2022     Santa Fe Art Institute - Santa Fe, NM
Teton Artlab, Jackson - Freedom, WY        
2021 The Studios at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art- North Adams, MA (Oregon Visual Artist Fellowship)
Hot Box Residency - MASS Gallery, Austin TX
North Louisiana Virtual Residency - The Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation + North Central Louisiana Arts Council, Ruston, LA
c3: Initiative Letterpress Residency - Colton, OR
2020     The Hambidge Center - Rabun Gap, GA
2018       Leland Iron Work + Pacific Northwest College of Art - Oregon City, OR (Ford Family Foundation Golden Spot Artist Fellowship)
Japanese Arts Foundation – Chicago, IL
Good Hart Artist Residency - Good Hart, MI
2016       Mary Sky - Hancock, VT
2014       c3: initiative Papermaking Residency –  Portland, OR

SELECTED VISITING ARTIST AND SPEAKER APPEARANCES
2023 Artist Talk, Concept of MA – Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, Baku, Azerbaijan
Artist Talk, Concept of MA: Time and Space – Coordinated by Japanese Embassy of Azerbaijan, facilitated by National University of Architecture, Baku, Azerbaijan
Visiting Artist Talk, Coffee @ Ten – organized by Good Hart Artist Residency, Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey, MI
Artist Conversation with Sarah Nguyen and Eden Radfarr - UCM Gallery of Art & Design, Warrensburg, MO
2022       Artist conversation with Russell Borne moderated by Kristan Kennedy- Carnation Contemporary, Portland OR
Artist Roundtable, Art-in-Between: Trama, Identity, and Representation- DePaul University, Chicago, IL
Visiting Artist Talk – Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland OR
Artist Talk - Teton Artlab, Jackson, WY
Artist Conversation with Sarah Nguyen and Eden Radfarr - North Louisiana Virtual Residency, Ruston, LA
2021         Artist Talk and Studio Tour – Stelo Arts and Culture Foundation, Portland OR
2020         Artist Conversation with Kristan Kennedy at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Big In Japan program
Artist Lecture: Respect at “We Still Teach”, television program via Fox 32/My50 Chicago TV
2019         Artist Talk: Blackfish Gallery, Portland OR
Artist Lecture: Japanese Aesthetics of Arts: Concept of MA- The Japan America Society of Chicago+ JCC, Chicago, IL
Artist Lecture: Concept of MA by Mami Takahashi - Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey, MI
2018         Artist Talk: Art as Refuge exhibition - Art Council of Lake Oswego, 510 Museum & ARTspace, Lake Oswego, OR
2015         Artist Talk: Within/Without with Pat Boas - c3:initiative + pulp&Deckle, Portland OR
Artist Talk: Screening+ Conversation: Mami Takahashi+Kristan Kennedy - c3: initiative, Portland, OR
2014         Visiting scholar: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (multi-year contract from 2014-2018)

BIBLIOGRAPHIES, INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS
Fallon, Michael. Unfolding, Stelo Arts and Culture Foundation, 2023 (forthcoming)
Cahill, Zachary and Schuh, Michael. Another Idea: an actual conceptual art exhibition, Portable Grey, Vol. 6, University of Chicago Press. October 2021
Ashton, David. Brooklyn artist gets Oregon Arts Commission Teaching Grant, The BEE. March 2021.
Ruth, Anna. Support Beam Artist Reflection: Mami Takahashi, online article, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Feb. 17, 2021.
Principe, Andrew. Reflections: An Interview with artist Mami Takahashi, December’s Featured Interview. Council-General of Japan, Chicago. November 2020.
Daghlian, Martha. The Unknown Exhibition: A show exploring anonymity, craft, and art takes on new meaning amidst social distancing, Oregon Arts Watch. March 29, 2020.
Daghlian, Martha. VizArts Monthly: Fill March with art and sunshine, The Unknown Artist, Oregon Arts Watch. March 2, 2019.
Wunnan, Nim. VizArts Monthly: Flatness, roundness, and everything between and beyond, Oregon Arts Watch. August 1, 2019.
Farbman, Suzy. Artist Mami Takahashi illuminates the immigrant experience, Suzy Farbman: Synchronicity, Turning Points and Beyond…, June
Ringling, Macrina. Interview to Mami Takahashi, Online Broadcasting, Mary Sky, VT. October 2017
Chaykowski, Natasha. Curatorial Essay: Beyond the barrier of sound and soon, of light, Online Article at akaartistrun.com. August 21, 2016
Jahn, Jeff. Takahashi | Kennedy Conversation, PORT, January 2015
Baker, Cindy. "The Missing Body: performance in the absence of the artist". Print. Lethbridge, AL, Canada. June 2014
Kirk, Atalanta. 70 Days In The Tent. Print. 1st ed. Blurb, 90-91. Phoenix, AZ. 2009.
Tokita, A. "Smell of Tokyo"The Asahi Times, Tokyo, Japan. September 2004

GRANTS AND AWARDS
2023       Foundation of Contemporary Art – Emergency Grant, NY, NY
2022       Oregon Arts Commission  - Career Opportunity Grant, Salem OR
Regional Arts and Culture Council - Make|Learn|Build Grant, Portland OR
2021        Studios at Mass MoCA - Oregon Artist Fellowship by the Ford Family Foundation
Regional Arts and Culture Council - Make|Learn|Build Grant, Portland OR
2020   Oregon Arts Commission  - Career Opportunity Grant, Salem OR
Regional Arts and Culture Council - Support Beam, Portland OR
Portland Art Museum - Artist Relief Fund, Portland OR
2018        Leland Ironwork+Pacific Northwest College of Art Residency - Golden Spot Artist Award by Ford Family Foundation
2017        Regional Arts and Culture Council - Project Grant, Portland OR
2013        MFA Scholarship Award - Allied Arts Gallery, Richmond, WA