Events
In Conversation: Amia Yokoyama, Miraj Patel, and Alex Anderson
Join us for a conversation with my hands are monsters who believe in magic, Los Angeles-based artists Amia Yokoyama, Miraj Patel, and Alex Anderson, as they share about their practices of liberatory possibilities through a discussion about representation, refusal, bodies, figuration and transfiguration in object making. This conversation, moderated by guest curator Kris Kuramitsu, will demystify the manifold understandings of our relationship with the world.
The conversation is free to attend. RSVP appreciated.
About the Panelists
Amia Yokoyama is a multimedia artist and educator who works across experimental animation, video, ceramics, sculpture, and installation. Yokoyama has exhibited at In Lieu Gallery (Los Angeles, CA, 2020); The Craft Contemporary Museum (Los Angeles, CA); The Japanese American Cultural Center (Los Angeles, CA); The Brand Art Center (Los Angeles, CA); Deli Gallery (Mexico City, MX); The Drawing Center (New York, NY); Anthology Film Archive (New York, NY); and more. She holds an M.F.A. in Experimental Animation from California Institute of the Arts (Valencia, CA) and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2017).
Miraj Patel is an anti-disciplinary creative who works in art, photography, product and space. His personal work has won numerous awards and has been shown and collected by institutions across the world. His commercial practice has ranged from product design, manufacturing, web design, material development, brand development, art direction and more. Patel received his M.F.A. in Photography from Yale University (New Haven, CT).
Anderson uses ceramics to explore the sublime in both natural and man-made worlds while addressing race and cultural representation. His work blends global art histories with African American vernacular and pop culture to challenge ideas of reality, illusion, and identity. Anderson has exhibited at Human Resources (Los Angeles), Long Beach Museum of Art (Long Beach, CA), and American Museum of Ceramic Art (Pomona, CA). He holds a B.A. in Studio Art and Chinese from Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA) and an M.F.A. in Ceramics from the University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA). He also studied at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute (Jingdezhen, China) and was awarded a Fulbright Grant in affiliation with the China Academy of Art (Hangzhou, China), where he continued his studies in ceramic art.
Kris Kuramitsu is an independent curator and educator in Los Angeles. As Senior Curator at The Mistake Room in Los Angeles, she organized exhibitions such as Matsumi Kanemitsu: Metamorphic Effects (2014); Cao Fei: Shadow Plays (2015); A Tender Spot: Sky Hopinka and Karrabing Film Collective (2018); and Gaëlle Choisne: Temple of Love – ADORABLE (2019), among others. She curates the Candlewood Arts Festival, a program of temporary public art projects in the Anza Borrego Desert for the Under the Sun Foundation. Additionally, she has organized exhibitions for institutions such as the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, CA; LAXART, Los Angeles; Instituto Cervantes, Madrid; and the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles. She has taught at Harvey Mudd College and was the 2022 curatorial resident at Occidental College, where she organized the exhibition Voice a Wild Dream: Moments in Asian American Art and Activism, 1968-2022. She is the recipient of the 2024 Call to Dream Sam Francis Fellowship.