Satomi Shirai was born in Tokyo and is presently living in New York. Lately her work has received international attention through participation at exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, amongst others.Her latest work cycle, which Satomi calls “New York in my life” is about cramped domestic conditions, where the inhabitants of these mostly tiny places appear and disappear, vanish and seem to even lose their own identity. Often the people shown in Satomi’s pictures can’t be recognized. They are anonymous inhabitants of faceless living spaces and yet one can discover so many reminiscences in her images about national origins, cultural uniqueness and individual personal histories.

Satomi’s work invites to be explored and discovered. I believe that her photographs of dollhouses deserve particular attention. Meticulously furnished with Japanese furniture and living accessories it takes more than a superficial look to find out that the image is about a dollhouse and not a real home. Miniature toys and gadgets of all sorts are a typical phenomenon of Japanese otaku culture. Miniature dollhouses are very popular with women in Japan. Whileas Takashi Murakami shows aspects of male otaku culture, Shirai concentrates on the female aspects of the same phenomenon (fujoshi). The most popular incarnation is probably the ubiquitous Hello Kitty merchandise, so popular not just in Japan, but everywhere in the world.

Satomi Shirai’s images literally grow on you and one may realize that in a big city, no matter where on earth, we become also a reflection of the spaces we live in. Satomi’s subtle humour that she transmits through her images, relieves her pictures from a potential “heaviness” and ultimately makes the viewer feel good, makes him or her almost a guest, thus absolving him or her from any suspicion of voyeurism.

Award/ Grant
2010 “The CCNY 2010 National Photography Competition” – Honorable Mentions
by the Camera Club of New York
2008 “New York Photo Awards ‘08”- Nominee
2007 “2007 Scholarship Award” by International Center of Photography, New York
2006-2007 “Fellowship of Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artists”
by the Agency of Cultural Affairs, Japan
1998 “Artist in Residence” Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan

Solo Exhibitions
2011. 4 Micheko Galerie, Munich, Germany
2010. 12 Motus Fort, Tokyo, Japan; “Making Believe”
2010 TOPAZ Arts, Queens, NY; “Home and Home”
2003 Guardian Garden Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Konica Minolta Plaza; “Emerging Photographer Prize”, Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibitions
2011. 8 Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C; “Portrait Now: Asian American Portraits
of Encounter”
2011. 2 Ring Cube, Tokyo; “Overseas”
2010. 12 “CUNY Hunter College MFA exhibition”, Hunter College Times Square Gallery, New York, NY
2010. 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan; “New Snap Shot”
2010 Arario Gallery, New York, NY; “IRRELEVANT”
2010 Crane Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA; “Hunter MFA in Crane Arts”
2010 Korus House, the Embassy of Korea, Washington, D.C; “Desirable Fairy Tale”
2009 Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C;
“Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 exhibition”
2009 Arlington Art Center, Arlington, VA; “Public/Private”
2008 National Portrait Gallery, London; “Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008”
2008 Motus Fort, Tokyo; “Spectral Analysis”
2008 The School of International Center of Photography, New York; “2 Amerika”
2008 The Bobby Fisher memorial Building, Washington, D.C; “Girlish Ways”
2007 The School of International Center of Photography, New York;
“Full-Time Program Final Exhibition”
2001 Gallery SPEAK FOR, Tokyo, Japan; ”Tokyo Youth”
2000 Mitsumura Art Plaza, Tokyo, Japan; “11+1”
1999 Mito Contemporary Art Center, Ibaragi, Japan; “Private Room 2”
1997 Kiyosato Museum of Photography Art, Yamanashi, Japan; “K’MoPA Young Portfolio”
1995 Guardian Garden Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; “6th Hitotsubo/3.3 sq.m Exhibition”

Public Collection
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Kiyosato Museum of Photography Art, Yamanashi, Japan

Education
2010 M.F.A. The City University of New York Hunter College
2006-2007 International Center of Photography: the Full-Time Certificate Program, New York
1996 B.A. Visual Communication Design Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan