YOKO ICHIMURA

Born in Hokkaido, Japan.

Graduated from the Department of Oil Painting, College of Art and Design, Musashino Art University.  

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Based in Tokyo.

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Yoko Ichimura is a Tokyo-based visual artist whose practice explores the layered relationships between landscape, memory, and materiality.

​Using her own photographs printed on washi and re-layered with resin, pigments, and translucent whites, she creates surfaces where image and material slowly diverge. These works examine how natural and urban landscapes—ranging from the coastline of her hometown Yoichi to the shifting views of Shibuya—carry histories, personal emotions, and accumulated time.

Ichimura often titles her works with geographic coordinates, connecting each piece to a specific vantage point while allowing the images to move toward abstraction. Her ongoing body of work, Point of Landscape, includes the Layer, Moment, and Transition series, each exploring how depth can be constructed beyond representation through the interaction of photography and resin.

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Statement

For me, landscape is not merely a physical phenomenon unfolding before the eyes,
but a multilayered entity that reflects history, culture,
and the memories of both individuals and communities.
It contains vast layers of information and constitutes a foundation
that shapes the very core of identity.

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A landscape that has profoundly influenced me
is the distant view of my hometown.
Growing up in an environment without strict religious doctrines or absolute rules,
I came to realize that it was the landscape itself that shaped my sense of self.
In contrast, in many regions of the world,
religious norms and mythological worldviews have exerted strong influence—
faith and absolute “truth” have often formed the core of both individual
and collective identity.

However, for myself and many around me,
the formation of identity has not necessarily been centered on such truths,
but rather grounded in landscape and a sense of place.
In other words, our “core” lies within the memories and experiences
embedded in the natural environment and the surrounding landscapes—
elements that have guided how we exist as individuals and as communities.
Because landscape functions as a “core of identity,”
exploring its nature lies at the foundation of my artistic practice.
To create, for me, is not only an act of self-expression
but also an inquiry into how landscapes can be shared with others.

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To embody this recognition,
I use geographic coordinates as the titles of my works.
These numerical values may appear impersonal and anonymous,
yet behind them lies an actual “place,”
bearing its own time and memory.
The notation of coordinates functions as a map—
a representation of both the universality of landscape
and the relativity that underlies the world’s structure.

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In contemporary society, collective consciousness continues to waver,
and landscapes are becoming increasingly homogenized,
making historical layers and regional distinctiveness harder to perceive.
Much like encounters through the screen of an online meeting,
landscape is experienced as something “present here,”
while its deeper sense of place and the stories behind it
are fading—and may eventually be lost.
At the same time, when people begin to share their thoughts and emotions
beyond geographic boundaries and collective frameworks,
I sense that the visible landscape will dissolve
and be reassembled into new images.
With this awareness—and with hope—
I seek to contemplate both the present and the future through landscape as a medium.

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My primary focus lies in two realms:
the landscapes of my hometown and those of the city.
Urban environments, constructed by architecture,
may appear artificial and superficial.
Yet they resonate with the aesthetics of appearance
symbolized by social media culture,
and, like a mirror, reflect the collective identities of contemporary society.
Even when such landscapes do not feel entirely familiar to me,
I choose to perceive them with affirmation.

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Through these surrounding landscapes,
I aim—taking photography as an objective starting point—
to bring forth the invisible layers that lie beneath the visible world.

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AwardsSelected, 

Tokyo Wonder Wall 2004 , SHIBUYA ART AWARDS 2022,  WATOWA ART AWARD 2023,SHIBUYA ART AWARDS 2024

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Group Exhibition

1999 011 Exhibition (KEY Gallery & Seika Gallery/Ginza) Thereafter, he exhibited until 2005.

2002 The 1st Sapporo Future Exhibition (Clock Tower Gallery/Sapporo)           

2003  2nd Sapporo Mirai Exhibition (Clock Tower Gallery/Sapporo)     

　　  Graduation Works Exhibition of Tokyo Five College of Fine Arts(Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum/Ueno) 

          2.1 Sapporo Mirai Exhibition (Minamihoro Town)                                               

2004  Sapporo Mirai Exhibition (Clock Tower Gallery/Sapporo)      

2006 Group exhibition"Gelände" at Gallery Art Morimoto/Kyobashi 2022 Ergo VR site exhibition                                                 

2022 Installation at KORERU, Oimachi, Tokyo                         

2022 SHIBUYA ART AWARDS    (Daikanyama Hillside Terrace)

2023 WATOWA ART AWARD 2023 EXHIBITION（WATOWA GALLERY / THE BOX TOKYO ）

2024 SHIBUYA ART AWARDS    (Daikanyama Hillside Terrace)