Karin Yamamoto is a Queens-based artist who primarily creates paintings among other practices. Her paintings are often intimate scenes of her surroundings, which focus on color, light, and spatial relationships. A native of Japan, Karin moved to New York in 2005 to pursue an education in the arts and received BFA from State University of New York, Purchase College.
Karin has exhibited throughout the New York area and is a member of the Japanese Artists Association of New York (JAANY), participating in the group’s annual exhibitions since 2022. Most recently, Karin’s work was featured in a five-person group exhibition Emerging Visions at Perry Lawson Fine Art in Nyack, New York (2025).
Other notable exhibitions and achievements include School of Visual Arts’ Summer Showcase at SVA’s Flatiron Project Space (2024); receipt of a special award by Japanese Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi with an exhibition at the Ambassador’s residence (2020); a commission by Steinway & Sons to design and paint a custom-made piano (2013); and a solo exhibition My So-Called Patterned Life at The Rockland Center for the Arts (2010).
Recently, Karin’s practice has expanded to include filmmaking. In November 2025, her first short film, Only Intermission, had its world premiere at New York Short Film Festival held at Cinema Village in New York City.
Artist Statement
Karin’s paintings focus on color, patterns, memories, and spatial relationships in intimate spaces or domestic settings such as living rooms or theater lobbies in New York where she’s lived for the past 20 years. Originally from Japan, her scenes convey a sense of comfort and adventure she found in her new home country. Her personal and professional involvement in theater informs the way she depicts those scenes in her paintings: by designing the scenery, costume, and lighting, and placing people in the space, she gives directions on canvas, often leaving rooms for surprises and spontaneity. The work explores the themes of nostalgia and traditional ways of living and artmaking, often inspired by her love of going to theaters. Karin creates works that remind viewers of a lost time, the world before the digital and technological advancement, with an emphasis on physicality and tangible experiences.
Karin Yamamoto 