Still from Gravity and Radiance, 2021, by Umi Ishihara. Courtesy of the artist.
Remote Sensing: Identity, Place, and Culture in Contemporary Japanese Art is a new exhibition at the George Paton Gallery (GPG) that brings together three Japanese artists—each working in different parts of the world—whose practices reflect the complex entanglements of migration, memory, and cultural exchange. Through personal and transnational perspectives, the exhibition explores how contemporary Japanese art is shaped by shifting experiences of place, identity, and cultural connection.
On show from 1 to 23 May, Remote Sensing features works by Kyoko Imazu, Umi Ishihara, and Ana Scripcariu-Ochiai. While their mediums and approaches vary, each artist draws from lived experience to reflect on themes of belonging, dislocation, and (dis)connection. Together, their works speak to the subtle ways in which personal narratives can register broader social and political undercurrents across global contexts.
Curated by Hina Omukai, a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne’s Master of Art Curatorship program, Remote Sensing is deeply rooted in Hina’s academic experience and emerging curatorial practice. While studying at the University, Hina focused on Australian and contemporary Asian art, completing a minor thesis on Japanese art and curation in Australia under the supervision of Dr Wulan Dirgantoro. Her fieldwork in Hong Kong further deepened her engagement with the complexities of contemporary Asian art practices.
‘In Remote Sensing, I wanted to highlight current practices of contemporary Japanese art while also questioning what ‘contemporary Japanese art’ means today,’ says Hina. ‘The artists in this exhibition are all based in different countries, going through different diasporic and international experiences. Each work is a reflection of the artist’s personal history, but also encapsulates politicality beyond borders. This exhibition is an attempt to create a dialogue that bridges physical and cultural distance, while reconsidering contemporary Japanese art in the global context.’
Each of the three artists featured in the exhibition brings a distinct perspective to these ideas, shaped by their individual histories and working contexts.
Kyoko Imazu, who is based in Melbourne, works across printmaking, puppetry, installation, and ceramics to illuminate the overlooked worlds that surround us—bugs, weeds, and imagined creatures become protagonists in delicate visual narratives. Her work draws on childhood memory and intimate encounters with nature, uncovering life cycles of death, regeneration, and wonder. Imazu’s art is held in major collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the State Libraries of Victoria and Queensland.
Umi Ishihara, a Tokyo-born artist and filmmaker now based in London, creates experimental narrative films that blend personal memory with broader questions of class, community, and dislocation. Often working with non-professional actors drawn from her everyday life, her films evoke a poetic realism that has resonated globally, with screenings at the Centre Pompidou, ICA London, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. In 2024, she was awarded the GQ Global Creativity Award.
Ana Scripcariu-Ochiai, a mixed-media artist with roots in both Japan and Romania, explores the relationship between people and land through field research, including documentation of indigenous festivals and folk religions in different countries and regions. Her works explore the commonalities and differences that unify/divide humans, being it physical or temporal or cultural or historical or spiritual. She holds a PhD in sculpture from Tokyo University of the Arts, and was named in Forbes Japan’s 30 Under 30 list in 2020.
Together, these artists challenge reductive understandings of Japanese art by foregrounding multiplicity—of voice, experience, and geography. As Hina notes, the exhibition does not aim to define Japanese art, but to trace the ways it moves, adapts, and resonates across borders.
Hina is the recipient of our 2025 Alumni Award, and Remote Sensing is presented as part of the GPG’s 2025 exhibition program. The George Paton Gallery, a part of UMSU, has long been a space for experimentation, critical dialogue, and emerging voices. From its pivotal role in fostering feminist art in the 1970s to its ongoing support for student-led exhibitions, the gallery remains a vital platform for exploring the social and cultural concerns that resonate within and beyond the university. Remote Sensing continues this tradition, offering a considered reflection on the shifting contours of contemporary art in a global context.