Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #23, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, museum board
15 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Creating art brings peace and balance to my world. While working, the meditative aspects of the process ascend and immersion in a repetitive methodology envelops me in tranquility. Time and place seem to disappear. By stripping the art-making process to essentials, my art becomes a search for simplicity and unity in a complex world, benefitting myself and the viewer.
“Her approach is thoughtful and methodical; her art reflects the spirit of scientific investigation…..Just as Nikkei travel back and forth between cultures and idioms, Ijichi’s wall hangings sway and shift between perspectives and perceptions.”
Chiori Santiago, Nikkei-Heritage Vol IX, Number 1, Winter 2002 “Women Artists”
MARY IJICHI
b. Oakland, CA
EDUCATION
B.S.
University of California, San Francisco, CA
A.B.
University of California, Berkeley, CA
RESIDENCIES
2022
Visiting Artist, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, in conjunction with 60 Years of Collecting
2001
The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
1998
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
1996
Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
Mary Ijichi: Upon Reflection, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022
Mary Ijichi: Assemblages, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2017
Frottage: The Changing Surface, Artspace Edition Shimizu, Shizuoka, Japan
2014
Mary Ijichi, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
2011
Homage to Yayoi Kusama, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008
(Text)ure, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Extrusions, Takada Gallery, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Contemporary Asian American Abstraction, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022
Gesture/Color/Form, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
60 Years of Collection, University Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Echigo-Tsumari International Mail Art Exhibition 2022, Gallery Yuyama
Niigata Pref., Japan
2021
California Girls 2, Richmond Art Centre, Curator: Tom Marioni
21 Expressions, National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA) Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and Art Fort India (online exhibition and ebook)
2020
De Young Open, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, CA
A Global Pandemic: What It Meansfor Me, Gallery Yuyama, Niigata-ken, Japan
2019
New Encounters 2019, artspace Edition Shimizu, Shizuoka City, Japan
SIA (Society of Independent Artist), Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018
Way Bay 1 and Way Bay 2, Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
2017
Half Hundred Swing Show: Homage to Joseph Cornell 2017, Ao Gallery, Kobe, Japan
2016
Mail Art, Karuizawa New Art Museum, Nagano, Japan
2015
AU International Contemhibition in Naples from Japan port Art Ex, Museo Hermann Nitsch, Fondazione Morra, Naples, Italy
2014
5X5 An Invitational, Westmont Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Focus Latin America: Art is Our Last Hope, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
Ex Postal Facto, SF Centre for the Book, San Francisco, CA
Ever Gold 5 Year Anniversary Show, Ever Gold Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013
Arkansas 45th Collectors Exhibition, Arkansas Art Centre, Little Rock, AR
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS CONT'D
2012
Smalls, Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR
2011
5 x 5 An Invitational, Westmont Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
2010
Bohemia Gallery, Ashland, OR
2009
Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Illegiblusion, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007
What is a Line? Yale University Gallery, New Haven, CT
Los Angeles Asian & Tribal Arts Show, Santa Monica, CA
2004
Issho/Together: Japanese American/Japanese National Artist in America 1941-present, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA Curator: Bob Hanamura
AAWAA Group Exhibition, d. p. Fong Galleries, San Jose, CA
Light, Surface, and Translucence, Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR
2003
Fine Lines: Drawings from the Collection of Wynn Kramarsky, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
In the Making: Contemporary Drawings from a Private Collection, University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
2001
Traces, Palo Alto Art Centre, Palo Alto, CA Curator: Signe Mayfield
1999
They Hold up Half the Sky – Redefining the American Art Landscape, South of Market Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
1998
Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
1996
Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
1995
Vantage Point – Abstraction, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
Biennial Print and Draw Competition and Exhibition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
Women of Color in Art, Carver Cultural Centre, San Antonio, TX
1994
Yellow Forest, SOMAR Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993
Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Time Echoes, C. N. Gorman Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA
1992
Gathering, Lite Rail Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Different Voices, University of California, Santa Barbara – Women’s Centre, Santa Barbara, CA
Sixth Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin, Parkside, Kenosha, WI
1991
Art Works Gallery, Fair Oaks, CA
Community Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990
Fort Mason Foundation Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
1989
Worden Gallery, San Francisco, CA (two person show)
Fort Mason Foundation Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024
Van Proyan, Mark. Contemporary Asian-American Abstraction at Paul Thiebaud Gallery, Square Cylinder, June 26.
COLLECTIONS
Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Archive of American Art (John Held papers)
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
(Sol)LeWitt Collection
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #32, 2025
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
15 5/8 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #29, 2024
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
15 5/8 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Tetraptych, 2024
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
58 x 57 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #27, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
27 5/8 x 27 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #31, 2024
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
15 5/8 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #24, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
27 5/8 x 27 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #21, 2022
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
27 1/2 x 27 1/4 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #28, 2024
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
27 5/8 x 27 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #25, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, museum board
27 3/8 x 27 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #20, 2022
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
15 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #26, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
15 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #19, 2022
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, and museum board
15 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #23, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, museum board
15 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #22, 2023
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, museum board
27 1/2 x 27 3/8 in. (frame)
Mary Ijichi
Assemblage #15, 2022
colored pencil, mylar, plastic, beads, acrylic, artist's tape, museum board
12 x 12 in. (image); 15 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (frame)
