Miwa Yanagi  (Japanese, 1967) 

Miwa Yanagi (Japanese, b.1967), was born in Kobe, Japan. She graduated from Kyoto University of Arts, and had her first solo show in 1993 at the Art Space Niji in Kyoto. It was here that Yanagi exhibited her performance Elevator Girl, which consisted of a woman dressed as an elevator operator performing ritualized actions. This performance evolved into a series of photographs of the same name. The theme of the role of women in Japanese society explored in Elevator Girls proved to be of reoccurring importance.

In 1996, Yanagi was nominated to participate in Prospect 96, a group show at the Shirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, which exposed her work to an international audience. After her success in Germany, Yanagi continued to make work with the series My Grandmothers (2000). In this series, Yanagi explores the place of women in Japanese culture by creating photographs that depict young women’s ideas about their lives 50 years from now.

Yanagi then went on to create Fairy Tales in 2004. In 2009, the artist unveiled her Windswept Women series at the 53rd Venice Biennale. She has won many awards from Japan and throughout the world, including the Takashimaya Prize (2006) and the Leopold Godowsky Jr. Color Photography Award from Boston University. Yagani currently lives and works in Kyoto.