Kumi Kaguraoka

Photo by Yume Takakura

Born in Tokyo, Japan. Lives and works in Tokyo
2022 ~ 2023 Lives & Works in Brooklyn, New York
Education2012 M.F.A., Musashino Art University, Department of Scenography, Display and Fashion Design
Kaguraoka focuses on the interface between human society and the body, exploring the "image of the body" through cultural universality. Her major works
include "Metamorphosis of the Aesthetic Body," a series of devices that form the aesthetic body, in which she reconsiders artificial body modifications such as"decoration, restraint, and loss," which are still practiced in human history, and approaches the "aesthetic value" behind such modifications. Recent exhibitions
include“The lens within your heart" from the TAKEUCHI COLLECTION”, WHAT MUSEUM (2023; Tokyo, Japan),“My body becomes my heart?”
SusHi Tech Square, (2023; Tokyo, Japan),“The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies.-Consideration about the aesthetic value of the future body”SEIBUSHIBUYA (2022; Tokyo, Japan),“The REBEL Exhibition”The Untitled Space (2022; New York, USA),“kapCHər”The New York Art Residency andStudios Foundation (2022; New York, USA), and“The Art Science Exhibition at Kyoto University London University Goldsmiths School of Art and Science
International Symposium - Art Innovation Exhibition 2019”Kyoto University (2019; Kyoto, Japan).

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CV
Solo Exhibitions
The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies.-Consideration about the aesthetic value of the future body., SEIBU SHIBUYA,Tokyo
2022
Study of Non-verbal-communication., gallery ON THE HILL, Tokyo
2020
The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies., SEIBU SHIBUYA, Toky0
2019
Study of Metamorphose., FabCafe Tokyo, Tokyo
2019
Dialogue between the Body and The World vol.2, WACOL STUDYHALL KYOTO, Kyoto
2018
Dialogue between the Body and The World vol.1 (2015-2016), T-Art Gallery, Tokyo
2015
Pick the Light - SICF16 Grand Prize Artists Exhibition, spiral, Tokyo
2015
Pick the Light - Recording of Light, BRÜCKE, Tokyo
2015
Group Exhibitions
Will my body turn into mind?, SusHi Tech Square, Tokyo2023
The lens within your heart from the TAKEUCHI COLLECTION, WHAT MUSEUM, Tokyo
2023
The REBEL Exhibition, The Untitled Space, New York
2022
Sift, Season IV International Residency Exhibition and Open Studio, NARS Foundation, New York
2022
Traces, Season III International Residency Exhibition and Open Studio, NARS Foundation, New York
2022
kapCHər, Season II International Residency Exhibition and Open Studio, NARS Foundation, New York
2022
Artist in Residency, New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation, New York2022
ONE PIECE CLUB VOL.13, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo
2020
Break Zenya Exhibition supervised by Tomio Koyama, HILLSIDE TERRACE, Tokyo
2020
Hikarie Contemporary Art Eye vol.13-supervised by Tomio Koyama, Shibuya Hikarie 8, Tokyo
2020
Kyoto University and Goldsmiths, University of London Art Innovation International Symposium 2019, Kyoto University, Kyoto
2019
SHIBUYA STYLE vol.11, SEIBU SHIBUYA, Tokyo2017
SICF16 WINNERS EXHIBITION, spiral, Tokyo
2016
SHIBUYA STYLE vol.9, SEIBU SHIBUYA, Tokyo
2015
BankART Artist in Residence OPEN STUDIO 2015, BankART1929, Kanagawa
2015
SICF16（Spiral Independent Creators Festival16）, spiral , Tokyo
2015
Grants and Awards
2021

Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation Fellowship

2019

Kyoto University and Goldsmiths, University of London Art Innovation International Symposium 2019, Junya Yamamine Award

2017

Recipient of the istyle Art and Sports Foundation Fellowship2015

SICF16 (Spiral Independent Creators Festival 16) Grand Prize

2012

Excellence Musashino Art Graduate School Graduation Work Award

Residency Program
Artist in Residency, New York Art Residency and Studios
2022(NARS) Foundation, New York2015

BankART Artist in Residence, BankART1929, Kanagawa, Japan

Planning / Support of making art works
SAKIORI BU, Workshop and exhibition planning., Towada Art Center, Aomori, Japan2010
The Merchant of Venice, Support of making costume and stage arts., Japan-European Performing Arts Exchange, London, Istanbul, Tokyo
2010
Pericles, Support of making costume., Japan-European Performing Arts Exchange, Tokyo, London
2010
Karasawagi, Support of making costume., Japan-European Performing Arts Exchange, Tokyo, Brazil
2010
Teaching
Specially Appointed Adjunct Professor Cultural Diplomacy & Art Business Group, The COI Site, Tokyo University of the Art-2022
Saitama Prefectural University Guest Lecturer
2021Musashino Art University Guest Lecturer
2016-Statement
Being born to parents who were medical professionals, it was very inevitable that I would develop an interest in the "body. The town where I wasborn and raised had a large international hospital and a university hospital, and I remember growing up catching glimpses of my father doing image
training for surgery at home.
I create research-based works based on the premise that "the body is a tool for communicating with the world. Currently, under the title "TheMetamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies", I am researching the relationship between aesthetic values and changes in body shape in human society andhistory, and am creating work on this theme. I started making works with this theme because I felt uncomfortable with the aesthetic values presented
by society. For example, the main character in a famous Japanese animethat influenced me as a child and remains popular today has long blond hair,small face, slender, and big blueeyes. And, when I was a teenager, mixed-models and Gyaru who looks like far from Japanese often appearedon
the covers of many fashion magazines. Then, I was high school student, some of my classmates already had cosmetic surgery and changed theireyes size to bigger. In the past few years, the number of Japanese peoplesregardless of gender in cosmetic surgery and beauty salons has increased.
Against this background, I began towonder where, why, and how aesthetic values are born and change, and began to investigate the relationshipbetween the body and aesthetic values and the origin of beauty from various fields such as anthropology andphilosophy as well as art.
This“The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies”infers the body formed from the present and future“aesthetic values”from the history of human birthand forms its“aesthetic body”. And it is a cynical expression of the contradictory state born of blind pursuit to beauty by humanity. It asks viewers
what the aesthetic value is, imprinted by history, culture, religion, gender, etc., and imagines what the future aesthetic body will be for humanity.
Value standards in human society change due to a variety of factors. And there is the noise that occurs between pioneers who find new values and those
who follow past standards of value. No matter how advanced science becomes, there are contradictions in human beings that can’t be solved byscience, and I believe that these contradictions are what make us human. Many countries are celebrating diversity and becoming a society where
people can be who they want to be, but what is a society that is easy to live in?
I will continue to create art work based on the "body" and communicate with others using that artwork. And, I believe that this production willtranscend the realm of art and become a creation that will lead to a new future, and that it contains the potentialto change our current values
without being bound by conventional wisdom.

Title : Study of Metamorphose. [ About human evolution and future global environment. 02 ]Year : 2022 / Size : W35.8×H30×D1.8 inch

The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies.
美的身体のメタモルフォーゼ

2016- (ongoing)

The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies. 2016 - (ongoing)
In our society, beauty holds immense power, alongside intelligence, physical strength, and wealth.
Throughout history, figures like Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, and Yang Guifei have gained renown due totheir beauty. The significance of beauty is evident in Blaise Pascal's famous remark,"Cleopatra's nose: had it been shorter, the whole aspect of the world would have been altered"(from Pascal's Pensées section 162, published in 1958 by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved).
In the pursuit of beauty's power, the fashion industry emerged, makeup became popularized, and evenplastic surgery has become commonplace in modern times. Simultaneously, the widespread use ofsocial media has led to the common practice of taking portraits and videos, editing them to ideal standards
using various applications, and sharing them with countless individuals.
I believe that the global proliferation of the modern aesthetic value, particularly the Japanese conceptof "Mori" technology, plays a significant role. Young Japanese individuals pioneered the use of thistechnology, spreading it worldwide.
From a cultural anthropology perspective, examining the ways in which aesthetic values shape humanbodies reveals three main categories: ornamentation, restraint, and deficiency.
1)"Decoration" involves temporary alterations under the skin, such as fashion, makeup, Mori technology,
tattooing, and cosmetic surgery.
2)"Restraint" encompasses long-term modifications, such as foot binding in China, corsets in Westerncountries, brass neck coils in Myanmar, and artificial cranial deformation practices observed invarious continents in the past.
3)"Excision" refers to the removal of body parts, seen in practices like circumcision, tooth extraction,and epilation.
These practices are not confined to the past; they continue to influence human society today, albeit indifferent forms and contexts.

“The Unfashionable Human Body” by Bernard RudofukyIn the future, no one knows what will happen. However, I believe that by forming hypotheses basedon research, we can discover new values and possibilities. To hypothesize what the future conceptof beauty might be, I considered various conditions one by one.
Firstly, I focused on the environment, envisioning a future Earth undergoing warming, drying, andan increase in desert areas. Then, contemplating the question of "where beauty stands" and "what is
considered beautiful" in such harsh conditions for modern humans, I proposed that "strength as aliving being" could emerge as one of the future aesthetic values. The reasoning behind this idea liesin the history of human evolution.
It is believed that human ancestors, born in Africa, migrated to various continents. This migration
occurred as weaker individuals were pushed out of groups due to natural selection, forcing them toadapt to harsh environments. In such circumstances, Homo erectus, a species of the Homo genus,
began to gradually shape symmetrical and stable tear-shaped tools from simple stones before theadvent of language. It is also theorized that males skilled in crafting these tools and sourcing resources
might have used them to appeal to females. In this way, pioneers were born from vulnerable species,
allowing humanity to evolve and survive. Therefore, it can be speculated that beauty emerged fromthe strength to live.

Based on the map of the path that humanity would have crossed the continent,
explored by explorer Yoshiharu Sekino.

Title : Study of Metamorphose. [About hand axe. 01]
Year : 2021
Medium : acrylic, crayon, colored pencil, drawing paper
Size : W300×H400×D45mm

KGA6-A1 O96/ unifacial trihedral pick
1.75 million years ago, Konso, Ethiopia

Considering the future Earth environment of warmingand harsh conditions, I envisioned an aesthetically strong
body with an average height of 180cm, small facial features,
slender limbs, and an elongated physique. The backgroundfor this concept draws inspiration from animals like bears,
deer, rabbits, and foxes, which have different body forms
within the same species to adapt to their environments, asseen in Bergmann's and Allen's rules.
In considering the model for the future aesthetic body inhumanity, I looked to the Dinka people residing in South
Sudan. They are the tallest ethnic group in the world, andindividuals from this tribe have given rise to supermodels
a n d b a s k e t b a l l p l a y e r s . Th eir slen de r b o dy s hap e,characterized by a long and elongated form, provides a large
surface area, enabling them to maintain body temperatureeven in arid regions. I believe that this physique represents
a strong body capable of surviving in harsh environments.

A characteristic Dinka attitude, Terrakekka to Aweil, Sudan, 1925 (1927). Artist: Thomas A Glover
Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images.

Title : Kaguraoka’s X-ray. / Year : 2022/ Medium : Light box, X-ray
Size : W17.7×H39.3×D3.1 inch

Beauty model 71 inch

Kaguraoka 62 inch

Based on this, assuming that the body shape aligning with future aesthetic values (Beauty Model ) is
overall slender and elongated, it is evident that the average physique of Japanese individuals needs
to be elongated vertically.

Title : Extended Model’s X-ray./ Year : 2022/ Medium : Light box, X-ray
Size : W17.7×H39.3×D3.1 inch

Title : Face Cage.
Year : 2021
Medium : stainless steel, leather
Dimensions : W15×H15×D12.4 inch

Therefore, the function incorporated in artworks for future aesthetic values utilizes a pulling force,termed "Extended bone." Utilizing this concept, I created artworks (devices) that materialize and form
the body of the future: "Extended finger" for elongating fingers and arms, "Ruff to shape the neck" forelongating the neck, and "Prima Leg" for elevating the feet to an ultimate tiptoe position, formingstraight legs, and et cetera.
Title : Extended Finger.
Year : 2019
Medium : stainless steel, leather
Dimensions : W11×H21.6×D4 inch

Title : Prima Legs.
Year : 2019
Medium : stainless steel, resin
Dimensions : W6.7×H6.7×D49.2 inchAs our ancestors evolved into humans, humanity is poised to create new aesthetic values with
newfound technologies and materials in the future. In an era of advancing technology and increasing
human diversity, the enduring desire and pursuit of unchanging beauty reflect the strength of thehuman spirit. Through my research, I have come to believe that this humorous pursuit of beauty isquintessentially human, raising profound questions about what it means to be human and what
beauty truly entails.
I aim to challenge viewers with profound questions about humanity and beauty through this artwork.
And simultaneously, I believe this creation serves as a gateway to a new future, free from conventional
constraints, embodying the potential to transform existing perspectives and values.

Kitagawa Utamaro
Title: Three Beauties of the Kwansei Period
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: ca. 1791
Collection : The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cover of “ViVi”
Japanese fashion magazine (2020)

My artwork revolves around the concept that the body serves as a tool for engaging with the world.
The current series I'm working on is titled "The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies," exploring thequestion of "What is a beautiful body?" This theme delves into the intricate relationship between
aesthetic values and the human body.
The catalyst for exploring this theme was my own insecurity about my appearance. As a child, I
admired anime characters who had small faces, slender and tall bodies, blonde hair, and big eyes.
During my teenage years, I noticed that fashion magazines often featured mixed-race models who
had appearances that were distinct from the typical Japanese look. Simultaneously, I observed thatthe mannequins in department stores portrayed slender figures reminiscent of supermodels rather
than representing the body types of the store's main clientele, who were Japanese.
This dissonance led me to question the origins of aesthetic values and how they evolve. Some of myhigh school classmates even underwent cosm etic surgery, altering the size of their eyes to fit
a perceived standard of beauty . This experie n ce in ten sifie d m y curiosity about t he origins,reasons, and transformations off aesthetic ideals.
Through extensive research into fashion, folk costumes, culture, religion, and historical contexts
across various countries, I discovered that diverse body shapes emerged, often disregarding the body's
inherent identity. Despite the diverse backgrounds, I realized that underlying these variations weredistinct aesthetic values.

Title : Plaster cast for model walking. / Year : 2016 / Medium : photo/stain steel, 3D print

Title : Plaster cast to form a beautiful nose. / Year : 2016 / Medium : photo/stain steel, 3D print, carbon

“The World Map of Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies.” (2023)
In the realm of smartphone applications, various methods such as retouching, plastic surgery, hair removal, body shaping, hairstyling, fashion, accessories, corsets, foot binding, tattoos, piercings, tooth extraction,
circumcision, and more, have been employed to achieve a particular aesthetic standard. This proactive alteration of the body, aiming to meet certain beauty criteria, has been a prevalent practice throughout thehistory of humankind, spanning different cultures and eras around the world.
I have categorized these practices into three main aspects: decoration, restraint, and modification, and compiled the research findings into a global map. The archival materials used for this study were borrowed
from art museums and cultural institutions outside the country. Images depicting body modifications performed historically or even in contemporary contexts were arranged based on their respective continents
and countries.
Upon observing these arrangements, it becomes apparent that similar modifications are practiced on specific body parts across different regions, and similarities in patterns and designs are also noticeable.
From this observation, I speculate that there might be an inherent aesthetic consciousness embedded within the DNA of humanity.

Title : Extended Body.
Year : 2022
Medium : Mixed media
Size : W19.7×H39.4×D15.7 inch

Title : Ruff to shape the neck.
Year : 2021
Medium : stainless steel
Size : W15.7×H15.7×D3.1 – 6 inch

Title : Extended Finger -no02
Year : 2022
Medium : Mixed media
Size : W7.8×H41×D6 inch

Title : Prima Legs. [ right & left ]Year : 2022
Medium : stainless steel, resin
Size : W9.8×H71×D17.7 inch

Title : Study of Face Cage -What is Anti-age?
Year : 2022
Medium : Mixed media
Size : W12.1×H16.3×D1.6 inch
technical requirements : drawing and collage
This drawing is a study and an instruction manual for "Face Cage."
It depicts the functions of "Face Cage." and the background of why this work was created.

Title : Prototype of Extender finger no.1
Year : 2019
Medium : paper, stainless steel
Size : W11×H21.6×D4.3 inch

"KUMI KAGURAOKA solo Exhibition The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies.
-Consideration about the aesthetic value of the future body." SEIBU SHIBUYA / Tokyo (2022)

"KUMI KAGURAOKA solo Exhibition The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies.
-Consideration about the aesthetic value of the future body." SEIBU SHIBUYA / Tokyo (2022)
in SEIBU SHIBUYA shop window.

commentary
Shin Takeuchi
Collector, CTO, Director of Vision Inc.
An artist who creates works under the theme of“The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies”.
She images and produces tools to get the aesthetic value that humanity has been seeking. In addition, not only the completed work itself but
also the prototype of the work is made into works.
I myself work as an engineer to create products from scratch, so it's no exaggeration to say she made me aware of the“beauty”in the process.
Approximately, the process of prototyping is the act of almost one creator imagining a completed form, making that image a model and bebrought it into reality. During this making, the design document will be brushed up again and again, while being sandwiched between“dreamy images”and“problems that cannot be realized”.
In other words, a design document in prototyping can be seen as a“dream to challenge the impossible”. And many of the works she creates,
such as design documents, are full of beauty despite their incompleteness. As a collector, I hope that many people will see her work, which has
the most novelty and uniqueness in contemporary art.

Junya Yamamine
CuratorIn 2019, I presented a prize for her artwork“The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies”
at“Kyoto University and Goldsmiths, University of
London Art Innovation International Symposium 2019”where I served as a judge.
This“The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies”infers the body formed from the present and future“aesthetic values”from the history ofhuman birth and forms its“aesthetic body”. And it is a cynical expression of the contradictory state born of blind pursuit to beauty byhumanity. It asks viewers what the aesthetic value is, imprinted by history, culture, religion, gender, etc., and imagines what the future
aesthetic body will be forhumanity.“The body is a tool to interact with the world through one’s senses.”As an artist, this is her statement
regarding artworks.
“Body”
is something that everyone can have and share. And it can be approached not only from art but also from aspects such as design,science, history, and culture. To do so, she has been persistently planning and researching and seeking new creations that present a vision
to society. She has been conducting research on concepts, materials, and methods of production, and has been discussing with specialists invarious fields such as fashion and folklore, not only art. She delves into the vision she presents to society from this researches and has gaining
groundwork that presents strong concepts to establish the work. Over the past few years, she has been working on her work while
maintaining her vision.
“Beauty”has been an eternal theme in the history of mankind and has been on different histories and cultures all over the world. She conducts
research to discover the“aesthetic body”and its factors for various races, using“The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies”. In the future,by conducting research and presenting works not only in Japan but also abroad, she will meet people and cultures with different values andhistories and deepen her knowledge. I hope, she will learn more from diverse cultures and aesthetics, lead to the discovery of a new“body”
and keep presenting her artworks.

commentary
竹内真
コレクター、ビジョナル株式会社 取締役 CTO「美的身体のメタモルフォーゼ」というテーマで作品を生み出しているアーティスト。
人類の美に対して、後天的に挑むための道具をイメージし、製作している中で、その出来上がったプロダクト自体ではなく、その途中経過、プロセスをも作品化している。
私自身がエンジニアとして、
プロダクトをゼロから生み出すという活動をしている中、「プロトタイピング」というプロセスの中にある「美しさ」を彼女に気づかせてもらったといっても過言ではありません。おおよそ、プロトタイピングという工程は、１人など、ごく少数の完成形をイメージする創作者がそのイメージを模型として現実に存在させる行為になります。
この間にある「夢のようなイメージ」と「実現させがたい問題」に挟まれながら何度も何度も設計書がブラッシュアップ
されていきます。
つまり、プロトタイピングにおける設計書とは「実現不可能なものに挑む夢」にも見え、彼女が作りだす作品、それも設計書のような作品の数々は未完成にも関わらず、美しさで溢れています。コンテンポラリーとしても一際新しさとユニークさを持つ彼女の作品をぜひ多くの方に観てもらいたいと、いちコレクターとして願っています。

山峰潤也
キュレーター2019年に私が審査員をつとめた“京都大学·ロンドン大学ゴールドスミス校アートサイエンス国際シンポジウム2019”にて
神楽岡の「美的身体のメタモルフォーゼ」に賞を贈った。
この「美的身体のメタモルフォーゼ」は人類誕生の歴史から、現在、そして未来の「美的価値」より形成される身体を推測し、その「美的身体」を形成する装置の制作であり、人類の美への盲目的な追求から生まれたパラドックスをシニカルに表現している。それによって鑑賞者に歴史や文化、宗教、ジェンダーなどによって刷り込まれた「美的価値」とは一体何かを問い、そして人類が今後目指す未来の「美的身体」とはどんなものかを想像させる。
神楽岡は「身体とは世界と対話するためのツールである。」をステートメントに、作品の制作を行なっている。
「身体」とは、誰しもが持ち共有し得るものである。そしてそれはアートだけでなく、デザインや科学、歴史や文化などの側面からもアプローチが可能である。神楽岡はそのために、根気強く計画やリサーチし、社会にビジョンを提示する新たなクリエイションを模索してきた。コンセプトや素材や制作手段についてリサーチを重ね、アートに限らずファッションや民俗学など様々な分野の専門家とディスカッションを交してきた。これらのリサーチから社会に提示するビジョンを掘り下げ、作品の骨格として強度ある概念を提示する素地を身につけている。そしてこの数年、そのビジョンを持って作品制作をすることに努めてきた。
「美」とは人類の歴史の中で永遠のテーマとして世界各地で異なる歴史、文化体系の中で語られてきた。神楽岡は「美的身体のメタモルフォーゼ」を活用し、様々な多人種にとっての「美的身体」、そしてその要因を発見するためのリサーチを行う。
今後、日本だけではなく国外でリサーチや作品発表を行うことで、異なる価値観、歴史を持つ人々や文化と出会い、その知見を深めていくつもりである。多様な文化と美意識に触れることによって、成熟していった先には、神楽岡が新たな「身体」の発見につながると作品を発表し続けていくことと期待している。