Tabaimo (born 1975) is a globally acclaimed Japanese artist known for her immersive and thought-provoking video installations. Combining hand-drawn images that evoke traditional Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) with digital manipulation, Tabaimo’s animated installations offer a critical and complex view of contemporary Japanese society.

This is the first major exhibition curated by Tabaimo. Organized around the concept of utsushi, which refers to the emulation of a master artist’s work as a way to understand their technique, the exhibition presents Tabaimo’s existing and new works, as well as important historic works from SAM’s Asian art collection. Tabaimo selected these historic works for their close connections with her art. Whether it be something engrained in her artistic DNA or a piece she has quoted in her work simply because it’s interesting or beautiful, visitors can expect to see intuitive juxtapositions between the contemporary and the collection. For instance, SAM’s much-beloved 17th-century Crows screens with Tabaimo’s new video work that also takes the crow as its subject.