Ayaka Umeda

Artist Statement

Ayaka Umeda (b. 1993, Hiroshima, Japan) is a contemporary artist who explores the boundary between the visible and invisible through the traditional Japanese wax-resist dyeing technique, Rōzome.

By embracing the irreversible flow of pigment through water, she incorporates natural movement and chance into her compositions, uncovering forms that thought alone cannot reach — an attempt to depict what she calls “a truer nature” beyond human perception.

For ART TAIPEI 2025, Umeda will present six new large-scale works under the theme “Inaudible Orchestra.”

This series visualizes harmonies and vibrations that exist beyond the range of human hearing, contemplating how animals, plants, and minerals perceive and communicate sound.

In her process, the movement of dye represents sound, breath, and vibration, while layers of wax preserve the boundaries between beings.

Each piece functions as a visual score — transforming inaudible frequencies into color and form, and capturing the silent resonance that connects all living things.

Biography

1993 Born in Hiroshima, Japan

2018 MFA in Textile Art, Hiroshima City University Graduate School of Arts

2017–2021 Selected multiple times for Mitsubishi Corporation Art Gate Program

2018 Independent Tokyo 2018, Special Jury Prize

2020 Moji Port Art Wharf, Minato Oasis Moji Port Prize

2021 1st ARTIST NEW GATE, Gallery Seek Prize

Art Fairs: ART TAIPEI (2023–2025), Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong (2023–2025)

Collections: Hiroshima City University Art Museum, Itsukaichi Memorial Hospital, ARETECO Holdings, Charm Care Corporation