Beyond the Wall emerged from a period of deep reflection on identity and belonging. We are often encouraged to define ourselves through titles, roles, or achievements, yet identity is far more fluid than a single label or category. Like skin softening and renewing in water, we are constantly shaped by change. When we allow ourselves to sit with moments of uncertainty and see all parts of ourselves—the beautiful, the messy, and the unresolved—the fear of change can soften, revealing transformation as a natural process. Looking back at this work four years later, now living in Japan beyond oceans and former boundaries, the space beyond the wall feels lighter, with new worlds to explore.

Shizuka Kusayanagi

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Shizuka Kusayanagi (b. 1982, Yokohama, Japan) is an artist, designer, and educator whose practice centers on painting, drawing, and text as forms of translation—exploring how personal and emotional experiences can be expressed beyond words. After more than 25 years living in New York and Los Angeles, she recently returned to Japan and now lives and works in Fukuoka. Working primarily in oil painting, Kusayanagi also works across drawing, printmaking, installation, photography, video, and text. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including a solo show at Signal Gallery in Fukuoka, Japan; DMST Atelier, Project Space, and la Beast Gallery in Los Angeles; Arario Gallery in New York; and in Dublin, Ireland. Recent exhibitions include All The (Healing) Parts (2024), Positive Exposure: Southern California Asian American Art (2023), and CHIMERA (2023). Kusayanagi was selected for the Fall 2023 IKEA Residency and shortlisted for the Spring 2023 Hopper Prize. Her IKEA residency experience was featured in The Los Angeles Times. Her short film was selected for the Motionpoems film catalog in association with the Poetry Foundation, and her drawings and installations have been featured in Graphic Magazine and Grafuck. She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design in New York.