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Yoko Iwanaga

@yokoiwan

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Visual Artist (NY based)
Site-specific drawings & paintings developed through fieldwork
Exploring impermanence and the accumulation of time

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“E60st and 1st (August 26, 2026)”
28x22”
Colored pencil, Ink, Thread on papers

People using their phones while walking became a recurring detail in this drawing, capturing one aspect of everyday life in the city.
Through Traces of the City, I explore the people, structures, and traces of human presence that shape urban places.

#contemporaryart #contemporarydrawing #urbanlandskape #workonpaper #tracesofthecity by @yokoiwan

Process for my new piece

#contemporaryart #drawing ##process #workonpaper by @yokoiwan

I had been coming to this neighborhood almost every day for several years before the pandemic. Returning to the neighborhood, I found some things familiar and others new.
I met Lady, an eight-year-old Labrador, while walking around the neighborhood. She was very friendly.
While photographing an apartment under renovation, I met the owner and his family. He told me the building was built in 1910 and was originally a railroad apartment. I used to live in a railroad apartment myself. These long, narrow apartments have something very New York about them, and they have changed a lot over time.
The nearby bridge connects Manhattan and Queens, and the tram connects to Roosevelt Island.
I also noticed many people were on their phones while walking through the neighborhood.
A few photographs from the site where I worked on my next drawing.

#contemporaryart #fieldwork #cityscape #nystreet #traceofthecity by @yokoiwan

I had never been to Spanish Harlem before I started the drawing.
While working there, I stopped to watch people playing dominoes, talked with them, and they showed me how to play.
Since finishing the drawing, I’ve gone back a few times. I wanted to see how everyone was doing, and I also stopped by the shop to show one of the men the drawing. He was happy to see himself in the work.
I didn’t expect that making a drawing of a place would make me want to return to it.

#contemporaryart #fieldwork #sitebasedart #nystreet #tracesofthecity by @yokoiwan

E103rd and Lex (June 25th, 2026) Found object
4.5x4.5x1.5” Acrylic on Wooden box

I saw a girl in a graduation gown, hair dyed blue. I said congratulations. She said thank you. Behind her, her mom held a bouquet, smiling.
Later, on that same stretch of sidewalk, I found this. A blue metallic party ribbon.

#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #acrylicpainting #foundobjectart #tracesofthecity by @yokoiwan

E103rd and Lex (June 25th, 2026)
28x22”
Colored pencil, Ink, Thread on papers

I stopped to watch a group of guys playing dominoes in Spanish Harlem and ended up learning how to play. Some of the people I met that day became part of this drawing.
It was also graduation day at a nearby school. I remember seeing a girl proudly wearing her gown. And, of course, I couldn’t resist capturing a bodega cat taking a nap.

#Contemporaryart #contemporarydrawing #workonpaper #urbanlandscape #urbanobservation by @yokoiwan

“W16th and 6th (January 3rd, 2026)”, Found Object
6x8.5”, Acrylic on Wooden box

I found this ripped piece of a Con Edison final notice at a construction site on W16th and 6th Ave. The site was covered with layers of posters, and the notice seemed to have become mixed in with them. It was dated December 12, 2025.
I liked how this small piece of paper had become part of the layers on the street.

This piece took a little longer to finish than I expected. The store had discontinued the size of lumber I was using, and I was just one small piece short. I appreciate a woodworker friend helped me out.

#foundobjects #contemporaryart #acrylicpainting #urbanobservation #contemporarypainting by @yokoiwan

“W 16th and 6th (January 3rd, 2026)”
28 × 22”
Colored pencil, ink, thread on papers

January, and some Christmas decorations were still hanging on. I also saw a Christmas tree sitting in a trash can. It was cold, but people were still out window shopping.
I saw my first large temporary boiler on the street that day. Behind it, a big "I ♥ NY" graffiti. Nearby, someone had scrawled "I will miss you." And I noticed a glass shop that had been there since 1915.
Small things, but they stayed with me as I drew this block.

#contemporaryart #urbanlandscape #contemporarydrawing #nycstreets #pencildrawing by @yokoiwan

Site photographs from January 2026
Collected as part of an ongoing process of observing, recording, and drawing specific locations for “Trace of the City”.
Cold days are one of my favorite times to walk and observe the city. The air feels so clear.

#contemporaryart #fieldwork #sitebasedart #cityscape #graffiti by @yokoiwan

Drawing and painting based on a found object collected from the same site.
Part of my ongoing Traces of the City project.

“W86th and Amsterdam (November 14th, 2023)”
28 x 22” Colored pencil, ink, found object, thread on papers

“W86th and Amsterdam (November 14th, 2023), Found object”
4.5x4.5x2” Acrylic on wooden box

#contemporaryart #cityscape #drawing #realism #foundobject by @yokoiwan

“Grand and Bedford (February 14th, 2023)
Found Object” Acrylic on Wood, 6x4x2”

Progress images from a painting based on a note I found at Grand St. and Bedford Ave., Brooklyn.
Collected during a site walk and developed into a painting as part of my ongoing Traces of the City project.

#Contemporaryart #urbanskape #foundobject #realsticpainting by @yokoiwan

During the open studio, visitors repeatedly touched the paintings thinking they were actual objects.
I added tape afterward.

#Contemporaryart #urbanobservation #foundibjectart #acrylicpainting by @yokoiwan