Miya Ando: Equanimity (Meditations)

The title of Miya Ando's Equanimity (Meditations) exhibition evokes mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in difficult situations. For Ando, in this singular time, calm and solace are crucial. Her art encourages the viewer to look beyond appearances and assumes a fresh meaning not necessarily intended at the outset of its creation. "It reminds us of the transitory nature of all things in life," says Ando. "I'm also interested in drawing people into a slowed-down environment, especially in this current period of uncertainty. These works are inspired by sunrise and the dawning of a new day. My hope is that the experiential nature of the paintings will create an opportunity, or a suggestion, for viewers to become aware of the present moment."

The foundation of Ando’s practice is the transformation of surfaces. In this exhibition, she produces light-reflecting gradients on her metal paintings by applying heat, sandpaper, grinders, acid, and patinas, irrevocably altering the material's chemical properties. By an almost meditative daily repetition of these techniques, she is able to subtract, reduce, and distill her concept until it reaches its simplest form, conjuring presence from absence.

For Ando, a practicing Buddhist, the paradoxical pairing of metal with spiritual subject matter is intentional. Her art is an exploration into the duality of this material and its ability to convey strength and permanence, yet in the same instance, to absorb shifting color and capture the fleeting essence of light. The paradox inherent in her work--using metallurgy to advance ideas about ephemerality and time--has been beautifully realized in this group of paintings. These new works shift in coloration and offer various perspectives depending on the time of day, seasons, and conditions of a space.

About Miya Ando

Miya Ando’s work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions internationally at leading institutions including The Asia Society Museum (Houston), The Noguchi Museum (New York), SCAD Museum (Savannah College of Art and Design), Savannah, GA; The Nassau County Museum (New York) and The American University Museum (Washington DC). Her work has also been included in extensive group exhibitions at institutions including The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Arkansas), LACMA, Los Angeles, CA; The Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany; Bronx Museum, New York, NY and Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY. Her work is included in the public collections of LACMA, The Nassau County Museum (New York), The Corning Museum of Glass (New York) and The Detroit Institute of Art Museum (DIA), The Luft Museum (Germany) as well as in numerous private collections. Ando has been the recipient of several grants and awards including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Award and commission for The Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, CT. She exhibited her work in “Frontiers Reimagined” during the 56th Venice Biennale.

Equanimity (Meditations) is Miya Ando's third solo show at Nancy Toomey Fine Art in San Francisco.

Experience the exhibition virtually on Adjacent.