Earned her PhD in Film and New Media Studies from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2013

• 2023 “ICC Annual 2023: Shapes of Things,” NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], Tokyo
• 2023 Solo Exhibition “Michiko Tsuda so far, not far,” Kanazawa Art Gummi
• 2022 “Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan,” VILLUM Window Collection, Denmark
• 2022 “Medium and Dimension: Liminal,” Kakinokisou, Tokyo
• 2022 “Summer Vacation at a Certain Art Museum,” Chiba City Museum of Art
• 2021 “The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10),” Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery Of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia
• 2021 “Windowology | New Architectural Views from Japan,” Japan House London
• 2020 Solo Exhibition “Trilogue,” TARO NASU, Tokyo
• 2020 “Inter+Play Season 1,” Towada Art Center, Aomori
• 2019 “art trip vol.03 in number, new world,” Ashiya City Museum of Art & History, Hyogo
• 2019 “TOKAS Project Vol. 2 ’FALSE SPACE,’” TOKAS Hongo, Tokyo
• 2019 “Aichi Triennale 2019: Taming Y/Our Passion,” Ito Residence, Nagoya
• 2019 “Roppongi Crossing 2019: Connexions,” Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
• 2017 Solo Exhibition “Observing Forest,” ZARYA Center for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok, Russia
• 2016 “OPEN SPACE 2016: Media Conscious,” NTT InterCommunication Center[ICC], Tokyo
• 2013 “Media/Art Kitchen – Reality Distortion Field ‘Media Shapes Mind: Mind Shapes Choice: Choice Shapes Future,’” Bangkok Art and Culture Center[BACC]

• 2017 “The 20th Japan Media Arts Festival,” New Face Award, Art Division

Tsuda Michiko produces a diverse range of installations and performance pieces that incorporate characteristics of video media. She creates spaces containing video equipment and simple structures which blur perceptual boundaries, altering viewers’ perspectives and actions and inciting contemplation of cognition and physical sensation. Since 2016, Tsuda has also been one half of artist unit “baby tooth” with Kamimura Megumi. Together they hold performance lectures that closely analyze and reenact the choreography of characters from Ozu Yasujiro’s films to visualize issues such as the underlying distance between individuals and the role of women in society.

As a jury, all of us have taken the process of artist studio visits very seriously. Thanks to the superb organization of TCAA team, both on-site and on-line jury members have a very comprehensive view and understanding of each artist’s practice. We listened to the artists with great patience and asked specific questions in relation to their works and thoughts. These exchanges and deep engagements make this award much more than a final outcome of who wins but a meaningful learning experience for the jury members and hopefully the artists as well.

As usual, the deliberation process is one with careful reflections and reviews of the studio visits. Both Japanese and overseas jury members exchanged candid views about the works of Japanese artists as well as helped each other understand these works from a different perspective. The discussion was also much more than determining a result, but an in-depth contemplation of the relevance of artistic practices in a changing global context today.

Through her installations and performances, Tsuda Michiko explores the effect that cameras and screens have on those who view their subjects and images. Recently, she has embarked on a lecture performance to highlight hidden gender roles in the films of director Ozu Yasujiro by reenacting and analyzing the body movements of his characters. This project closely examines nonverbal communication and prompts reflection on how individuals internalize social conventions, including images and gestures.

Tsuda is also active in gender studies and social practice education and has an insatiable urge to experiment with new forms of expression to expand her artistic horizons. As a result, she has built up an impressive portfolio of work on various topics that interest her.

Both her artistic practice and art are exemplary in how artists invite the public to become self-reflective and critically aware of the need to participate in systemic change—not just personal transformation—to create a mutual understanding in society. In particular, the selection committee recognized the consistently motivated and inquisitive approach that permeates her work.