Exhibitions

Miya Ando: The Colors of the 72 Microseasons

London, United Kingdom

A quiet study of time told through seventy-two shifting shades of metal, ink, and ancient Japanese seasonal wisdom.

Tsukioboro painting

Image credit

Tsukioboro (Hazy And Dim Spring Moon Covered By Mist) Triptych, 2026, micronized pure silver & pigment on aluminum, 122 x 183 cm

Meet the artist

The Movement

Contemporary Art, Painting

ArtLovers Tip

Look closely at the Kumo (Cloud) paintings to find the tiny particles of pure silver; they are what give the clouds their inner glow and make the metal surface feel organic.

Exhibition Highlights - What you'll see

Miya Ando translates the delicate Japanese concept of mono no aware—the bittersweet awareness of transience—into luminous paintings on metal. Drawing from an ancient calendar that divides the year into seventy-two microseasons, Ando explores how nature changes every five days. Her work is a bridge between her heritage as a descendant of swordsmiths and her upbringing in a Buddhist temple, resulting in art that feels both industrially precise and spiritually weightless.

You're watching light catch the surface of burnished aluminum, where layers of ink and silver create the illusion of depth. The room feels steady and hushed. As you move, the colors of a peach blossom blooming or wet soil shift from light to dark, mimicking the way a cloud might pass over a midsummer morning or how a kimono's lining peeks through a cuff. It is a slow, rhythmic experience of time passing.

Worth the trip

  • Ancient Color Systems: The artist uses kasane no irome, a layered color logic from the 8th-century Heian period once used for silk robes and poetry.
  • Material Alchemy: Ando treats metal with the delicacy of watercolor, using micronized silver and ink to make heavy aluminum appear as light as a morning mist.
  • A Rare Calendar: The centerpieces are grids of twelve and seventy-two works that visually map the year's tiny transitions, from the first spring rain to the late winter chill.

How to experience it

Walk slowly past the grid of twelve paintings, noticing how the gradations of color soften as you change your perspective. Don't rush the cloud series; let your eyes settle on the exposed metal areas that catch the gallery's light. After leaving, find a quiet spot in Chelsea or a nearby park to notice a small seasonal detail—a budding leaf or a change in the light—carrying Ando's hyper-awareness of the present moment with you.

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