Umico Niwa’s practice uses speculation, fantasy and play to challenge normative notions of personhood. Her sculptures and drawings depict dynamic realms teeming with microbial, fungal, mineral, botanical, hormonal and celestial life. Each of her creations maintains a unique identity untethered to Western constructs of sexuality, race or gender. In her meticulously-detailed graphite drawings, Niwa collapses the micro and macro to create complex labyrinths that defy the laws of space and time. The theme of “nurturer” is fundamental in Niwa’s practice, with artworks often functioning as children. Niwa often speaks of her artistic creations as coming from an innate maternal instinct. Through this lens, Niwa offers Poesis as the primary “maternal wellspring” rather than biological reproduction.

Umico Niwa was born in 1991 in Japan. She received her MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.

She has held solo exhibitions at XYZ Collective in Tokyo, Japan (2023); Someday Gallery in New York City, NY (2022); Tilings in Montreal, Canada (2022); and Holding Contemporary in Portland, OR (2020).

Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Simon Subal in New York City, NY (2022); Kristina Kite in Los Angeles, CA (2021); and Miriam in New York City, NY (2020).

She was a resident at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (2022).