Megumi Ohata
Title: Mujina
Year: 2023
Medium: Silicone, pigment, foam, cotton, metal
Dimensions (H W D): 48 x 170 x 60 cm
Collected by the Adamovskiy Foundation, Kyiv, Ukraine
Sponsored by Bentley Advanced Materials, London, UK
Artist Biography:
Megumi Ohata is a London-based interdisciplinary artist and special effects practitioner with Japanese and Korean roots. Working with wearable artificial skin textiles imprinted with their own skin textures and hyperreal sculptural forms, their practice explores posthuman embodiment, trauma, and cultural memory. Ohata holds an MA (Distinction) in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art and a BA (First-Class Honours) from Camberwell College of Arts. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at Tate Modern, and recognised through awards such as Curator’s Choice at London Design Festival 2025 in partnership with Blackdot Gallery, and finalist selection for the Ingram Prize 2024. Their sculptures are held in the Adamovskiy Foundation collection, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Description:
Mujina (2023) is a hyper-realistic, life-sized sculpture that merges human and non-human forms, drawing from posthuman philosophy and Japanese Yōkai folklore. The work reflects personal trauma and questions the limits of humanism by presenting the body as unstable, hybrid, and continually transforming. The figure wears Haori, an artificial skin kimono jacket developed by the artist in 2021, created from silicone textiles imprinted with their own skin texture. This uncanny garment functions as both protection and exposure, blurring distinctions between animal and human, self and other.
Mujina is rooted in the belief that sculpture can extend beyond visual representation to become a wearable and relational form. Through its tactile surfaces and ambiguous presence, the work invites viewers into an intimate encounter with vulnerability, memory, and embodiment.