Yukiyo Kawano is a third-generation hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) who grew up decades after the bombing of Hiroshima. Her work is personal, reflecting lasting attitudes toward the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kawano received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Art in 2012. Since then, Kawano’s work has been seen in U.S., Japan and Australia. Kawano has also given lectures at Aspen Institute in Tokyo, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Main, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, Louisiana among many others and also appeared in radio shows, such as OPB Radio, Portland, Oregon and 3CR Community Radio, Melbourne, Australia. Kawano has received numerous grants, including the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant in 2012 and Project Grant in 2015; a Regional Arts and Culture Council grant in 2016, 2018 & 2019; The Oregon Arts Commission in 2017 & 2019; and The Andy Warhol Foundation, Precipice Fund, 2019. Since 2016, Kawano’s project Suspended Moment has been selected by New York Foundation of the Arts’ fiscal sponsorship program. She teaches through VCFA studio mentorship program (AT) and is an Advisory Board Member of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (Oregon PSR). Kawano currently lives in Portland, OR.
