These enquiries devolve into works that span sculpture, large-scale painting and site-specific installation, exploring femininity and intersectional feminism. “I think these inspirations and questions come from my experiences growing up in a multicultural context where identity was often slippery, which resulted in strict definitions of identity often feeling like a theatre performance.”

Harris’ Good Girl series, presented at RCA2023, was an example of this: Harris took high-res scans of kimonos worn by four generations of women in her family. Her family crest, originally embroidered on the kimonos as a symbol of ownership over the wearer’s body, was recreated and abstracted using spray paint and a stencil.

“As the upcoming feature in the Dulwich Picture Gallery Magazine declares, Makiko Harris is “Nailing It” And she truly is,” says gallery owner, Kristin Hjellegjerde. “Makiko is an inventor, she re-imagines the female world and makes it more powerful. Unapologetic, hardcore and confident, her work aims to surprise, always with an added twist of shock. Makiko Harris is the Brilliant Girl Power that demands to be seen and will never be forgotten. We are thrilled to present her in the new “Body Archive” show in Berlin this month.”

Body Archive is a three person exhibit – open from October 15 – where Harris will exhibit with Manuela Benaim and Emily Pope. She will present works from her Stocking Series, using steel instead of the expected soft textiles to depict the legs, as a way to assert the fixedness and rigidity of gender, as well as signifying resistance and endurance.

It’s the kind of work Harris has become known for, combining material expressions of hybridity that speak to her own multilayered experiences as a Japanese-American. Her academic background and research continues to inform her work too: elucidates in a recent work, pNeedle Dance, a collaborative short film created earlier this year that “captures my needle sculptures interacting with bodies in an underwater performance about connection.”

Body Archive is the latest in a run of institutional shows featuring Harris’ works, including Villa Schöningen and Kunstverein Wolfsburg in Germany, and Dulwich Picture Gallery. Two further yet to be announced institutional exhibitions in the UK are due to be unveiled soon and will take place in early 2026 – expect a live performance element. Also in the pipeline is the artist’s largest ever solo exhibition, taking place at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in West Palm Beach next Autumn.

“I think my biggest achievement is to still be making!” Harris explains, modestly. “As an artist, the desire to be seen and the desire to hide are strong opposing forces that make getting the courage to keep showing up and doing the work an achievement to celebrate in and of itself. I do it scared but I do it anyway.”