Naoko Wowsugi

Naoko Wowsugi, an artist of Korean-Japanese descent, lives and teaches in DC. Through a multidisciplinary practice including visual art, local lore, horticulture, and community participation, she celebrates human connections by toying with interpersonal and sociopolitical norms. Using art as a form of communication, her work depicts the individual in cultural economies and challenge habits of self-perception. She received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BFA from both the Kansas City Art Institute and Osaka University of Arts in Japan. Notable recent exhibitions and talks include “Open Engagement” at Queens Museum, Queens, NY (2018), “Ae Kai: A Culture Lab on Convergence,” presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Honolulu, HI (2017) and “The Outwin: American Portraiture Today,” at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (2016).

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