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Photographer, Zinester, Yapper, and Installation Artist

Biography

Lena Takabayashi (she/her, but prefers to be called by name)

Lena Takabayashi is a Tokyo-based artist born and raised in Nagano, Japan. She studied abroad at National Taiwan University in 2022 for a semester. She graduated from Tyler School of Art and earned her BA in 2024.
While Takabayashi is a multimedia artist, she is close-knit with her camera. Her work ranges from flat sheets of paper to sculptural 3D forms. Her major interest, the idea of boundary, is represented through those flexible visual outcomes. Takabayashi often makes zines about her works and distributes them at zine events. Her interest in distribution is derived from her attempt to gauge relationships with anyone who is involved in her life.

高林怜奈（she/herですが、名前で呼ばれることの方が好きです）

高林怜奈は長野出身で東京在住のアーティスト。2024年にタイラー・スクール・オブ・アートを卒業し、学士号を取得。2022年に国立台湾大学へ１学期間交換留学をした。
主に本とインスタレーションを制作しており、特にカメラとは密接な関係にある。作品は平面から立体まで、様々な範囲に及ぶ。主要な関心である自他の境界が、それらの幅広い視覚表現を通して象徴される。しばしば作品についてのzineを制作し、即売イベントで頒布している。頒布に関する興味は、その度に出会う人々との関係性を測るための試みである。

Languages

日本語

（Native）ネイティブスピーカー

English

（C2）Upper-level business

中文

（B2）日常會話程度

한국어

（A2）인사말 수준

Statement

I document spaces that emerge through acts of creation, by both my own and those of others. I am good at learning languages compared to other people. On the contrary, however, I often need time to put my thoughts into words, even in my native language. Beyond the differences between languages such as Japanese and English, people who share the same language still use words differently. I am interested in how those differences can be translated, and how people can communicate to others in a balanced manner—neither too much nor too little.

My primary execution methods are installation and books. My work combines text with images created through projection, including photography, video, and cyanotype. If a person’s verbalization process is slow, everyday conversation does not function; however, installations and books have a distinct framework of time from everyday conversations. Working with media that allow to take time, I propose the idea that there is no shortest route to building relationships with others, even in a contemporary society that demands speed and efficiency.

In my practice, the ultimate goal is not mutual understanding, but reconciliation. People often use the metaphor of “walking in another person’s shoes,” when describing mutual understanding. Yet, the act of someone else placing their feet into the shoes may feel invasive to some. Moreover, everyone has different sizes and shapes of feet; wearing someone else’s shoes does not necessarily allow a person to fully understand how they feel. Instead, I propose reconciliation as the act of measuring another person’s feet and making shoes for them. Shoemaking needs craftsmanship; even with accurate measurements, the first pair will most likely be clumsy and unwearable. The process of reconciliation is similar to continuing to make shoes. I seek to express the process of repeated reconciliation, sometimes involving pain or failure, to make the relationship grow stronger.

私は自身と他者の創り出す行為によって生まれる場を記録しています。私は言語学習が他の人と比較して得意です。しかし、それとは裏腹に、母国語を含め、自身の考えていることを言語化することに時間がかかります。人と人が持つ言語 — 日本語や英語などの差だけではなく、日本語話者の中でも人によって使う言葉が違う中、それをどう翻訳していくのか。どう相手に過不足なく、「ちょうど良い塩梅」で伝えるのかに興味があります。

私はインスタレーションと本をメインの媒体に制作しています。それらを制作するにあたり、写真、映像、及びサイアノタイプを含めた投影を元にしたイメージ制作と、文字をベースに使用しています。言語化がスローであると日常会話は機能しませんが、インスタレーションや本は、日常会話とは別軸の時間の流れを持っています。ゆっくりと、時間をかけることが許されるメディアを使用することで、最短・最効率であることが求められる現代において、人々との関係性構築に最短ルートは無いことを提起しています。

制作する作品において、終着点は相互理解ではなく、和解が目的です。相互理解について例える際、しばしば「他者の靴を履く」という表現が使われます。しかし、他者が自分の靴に足を入れるという行為は、人によっては侵略的に感じることもあるでしょう。そして、足のサイズや形は人によって違うため、相手の靴を履いたとしても相手の気持ちがその通りに分かるわけではありません。その一方で、私は、和解とは自身で他者の足の形を測り、相手のために靴を制作することであると提起します。靴を作ることは職人技であるため、相手の足のサイズを知っていても、初めは不恰好でとても履けないものができるでしょう。和解をするために必要なのは、靴を作り続けること。時には傷つきながらも、和解を繰り返すことで関係性は強固になっていくことを、作品を通して表現しています。

C.V.

EDUCATION

2025

B.A. in Art, minor in Art History, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, Japan Campus

2022

Attended an exchange program at National Taiwan University, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Philosophy

SHOWS

2025

SYMBOLS, RHF Studio Omotesando, Tokyo, Japan

Communication Sandwich, Ikkou’s gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2024

“FAMILY” + HAIR, Design Festa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Drinking From The Nonagon, TUJ Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Interdisciplinary Workshop Spring 2024, TUJ Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2023

Redefining Lines, Design Festa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Intermediate Drawing Summer 2023, TUJ Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Post-Studio Practice Spring 2023, TUJ Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

EVENT PARTICIPATIONS

2025

Nikki-Sai Vol.7, Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo University of the Arts School Festival 2025 “Tamayura” art market, Tokyo, Japan

ZINE FEST TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan

2024

Art market at Toride Geisai 2025, Ibaraki, Japan

Bubaigawara Secondhand Book Fair (Consignment), Tokyo, Japan

2023

Design Festa 58, Tokyo, Japan

WORKSHOPS

2025

Mayo-Making Open Studio @ Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan

Mayo-Making Open Studio @ Oju Hiroba, Tokyo, Japan

PERFORMANCES

2025

My Book ⇆ Something Yours, Taipei, Taiwan

2024

My Book ⇆ Something Yours, Nagano and Tokyo, Japan

SELECTED AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

2024

Dean’s Distinguished Artist Award Recipient, Temple University

2021–2024

Scholarships for Undergraduate Continuing Students, Temple University

2023

Dean’s List for the term of Spring 2023, Temple University

2022

Certificate, ICL (International Companions for Learning), Issued by the Taiwanese Government Ministry of Education

ARTICLE

2024

Hand-Made Zines of Poems and Diary by a College Student: What Do You Want to Exchange With?, Okaya City Newspaper

PUBLICATION

2025

My Book ⇄ Something Yours, DOOKS, edition of 50

Appointment w/ My Lesbian, Self-published in a copy of 35

Absence of Sexuality, THEA Vo.l2 “SYMBOLS”, THEA Team, edition of 50

A dust on my lens, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 50

2024

For Those Who Are Nameless, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 30

Shower Thoughts, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 50

Yap Poem, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 30

2023

Absence of Sexuality, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 50

To touch is to understand., Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 50

Fried Rice Project, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 100

Self-Critique, Lena Takabayashi, Self-published in a copy of 50

Japanese-English Translation

2026

One Day 4, Nami Hirao, DOOKS

2025

One Day 3, Nami Hirao, DOOKS

in Ikegami, Yusuke Omata, DOOKS

LENA TAKABAYASHI

Information Email

Project-Based Works

Independent Publishing

Exhibition

Other Works

Information

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