NAOMI KAWANISHI REIS is a transcultural visual artist whose work delicately bridges the realms of the ephemeral and the enduring. Born in Shiga, Japan, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, she crafts intricate two-dimensional pieces using humble materials such as paper, fabric, blades, and brushes. Her art explores idealized spaces (utopian architectures, conservatory gardens, and still lifes), drawing from folk craft traditions rooted in home workshops around the world.

Reis’s creative process often begins with a photograph, which she manipulates digitally to extract compelling forms and colors. She then translates these into layered compositions through self-taught techniques. This meticulous, hands-on labor imbues her work with a quiet intensity, honoring the overlooked and the marginalized, while celebrating intergenerational manual traditions.

Her exploration of “in-between” spaces extends beyond her visual art. As a seasoned Japanese-English translator and copyeditor, Reis is deeply attuned to the nuances of language and cultural exchange; an awareness that informs her art, which navigates the shifting terrains of identity, language, and belonging.

She has exhibited widely in solo and group shows across the U.S. and internationally, including the Brooklyn Museum, Morgan Lehman Gallery (New York), Praise Shadows (Brookline, MA), @KCUA (Kyoto), and Youkobo Art Space (Tokyo). Her contributions have been recognized by the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant (2018) and a New York Foundation for the Arts Finalist award in Painting (2015).

Beyond her studio practice, Reis has been learning community gardening in the in-between green spaces of Brooklyn as it cycles through the seasons. In seasons past, she was a founding member of the artist-run gallery Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, co-organized AN/OTHER NY, a nomadic workspace for emerging Asian art practitioners, and was part of the sangha collective Inner Fields.  

She holds an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design and a BA in Transcultural Identity from Hamilton College. Reis lives and works in Brooklyn, on unceded Lenape land, and maintains strong ties to her hometown of Kyoto.

More of Reis’s work may be appreciated on her website and IG account.