Miya Ando
Miya Ando is an American post-minimalist artist. She has done most of her works in countries besides the United States.
Early life
Ando is of half-Japanese and half-Russian heritage and is a descendent of Bizen sword maker Ando Yoshiro Masakatsu. She was raised by sword smiths-turned Buddhist priests in a Buddhist temple in Okayama, Japan and in the redwoods of Santa Cruz, California. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in East Asian Studies, Ando attended Yale University to study Buddhist iconography and imagery before apprenticing at the Hattori Studio in Japan.
Career
Ando's work has been featured in solo exhibitions in several U.S. states including New York and California. Ando has also exhibited in France, Australia, England, Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. Ando's work can be found at Aldrich Contemporary, the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, the Byzantine Museum in Greece, and in Chapman University's private collection.
In 2009, Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society commissioned Ando's piece, "8-Fold Path,” which consists of a grid of four steel square canvases measuring 4 feet each. The work was featured in a July 2009 article for Shambhala Sun for its "meditative" nature and "spiritual" influence. Also in 2009, Ando created “Fiat Lux” (“Let There Be Light”), a grid of 144 individual 5" x 5" steel canvasses for the meditation room in Brooklyn's St. John's Bread and Life Chapel. Ando was next commissioned by president Jay Davidson of The Healing Place Non Denominational Chapel to produce an installation for its women's facility.
