Born in 1975, Tabaimo focuses her creative energies on animation that describes the dark side of modern Japanese society. She uses black humor from time to time to craft her unique perspective. The artwork for her undergraduate thesis, Japanese Kitchen, 1999, was awarded the blue ribbon at the Kirin Contemporary Art Awards, a competition for emerging artists. She was the youngest to receive this award. Japanese Kitchen is a three-dimensional installation in which the entry door and the sliding shoji screen bear the symbol of the Japanese flag. Animated images play on the wall of the reception room with its tatami floor.

In her installation named Japanese Interior, a guest sits in a four-and-one-half-tatami room with a cushion and table, and enjoys an interactive communication with animated images playing on the screen. Tabaimo’s unique installations provoke discussion abroad, as well as in Japan, where she is also a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design. (Kateigaho)

Tabaimo at the James Cohen Gallery