Yuri Shimojo is a Tokyo-born, contemporary Japanese painter who lives and works between New York and Kyoto.
The last descendant of her samurai clan, who lost all of her immediate family members before the age of 30, Shimojo has always used painting to express the interconnected emotions of joy and pain. Using traditional Japanese watercolor or ground SUMI and SHU ink, her work combines the abstract and the surreal, often playfully and always evocative of the desire for universal compassion.
With minimal formal training in fine art, her style is grounded in the practice of classical Japanese dance. Her publications include a memoir of her unique childhood with her late family. She also spent many years studying Hawaiian healing practices and spirituality. These experiences of moving between cultures have influenced her work throughout her life and continue to bring new sources of inspiration.
She has exhibited in the U.S. and Japan and is in private collections around the world.
Represented by
東京三鷹市生まれ。
20代までイラストレーターとして活動後1997年米国へ移住。NYとハワイを拠点に世界を旅し、自然の普遍性と精神性に基づく抽象画を発表。現在NY在住、京都「お山のアトリエ」にたまに里帰り。
2025年12月から2026年1月、京都と東京で12年の歳月を経て完成させた干支画展を開催。来春からは婦人画報のオンラインギャラリーでの作品の販売も決定し、波瀾に富んだ生い立ちを綴った自叙伝『ちいさならくがき』（９７年刊・２００７年復刊）がKindle書籍化する。自分を知るために絵を描く経験を生かした独自のワークショップ『お絵かきサロン』と『ジャーナリング』が好評を博し、再び日本での活動が多く企画されている。