Megumi Shauna Arai (b. 1989) lives and works in New York City. She is interested in points of encounter, practices of embodiment, enfolding and unfolding aesthetics and the material and immaterial as interconnected. She has an interdisciplinary BA in Sociology, Embodiment Studies, Political Science and Mysticism from the CUNY Unique and Individualized Studies Program. The Tongue is the Child of the Heart, her debut solo show with Nina Johnson Gallery is currently on view in Miami (February 12 - April 18, 2026). Selected exhibitions include the host, the guest, curated by Nichole Caruso, ATLA Gallery (Los Angeles, 2026); Sinew, Koki Arts (Tokyo, 2025); Immanent Infinite, Object & Thing (New York, 2025); Group Shop, Bridget Donahue Gallery (New York, 2024); Summer Arrangement, Object & Thing at LongHouse (East Hampton, 2023); The Third Kind, Management Gallery (New York, 2023); Madoo, Object & Thing (Sagaponack, 2022); At The Noyes House, Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM and Object & Thing (New Canaan, 2020); Lore: Reimagined, Wing Luke Museum (Seattle, 2018) and Midst, Jacob Lawrence Gallery (Seattle, 2018). Recent residencies include Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library; Headlands Center for the Arts, Common/Oppes and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Pedagogical collaborations include Field Meridians, The Museum of Modern Art public programs, La Sudestada and The Mothership. Arai has given artist talks at Asia Art Archive in America, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library, Topical Cream, Montez Press Radio, Parsons School of Design, Wing Luke Museum and Henry Art Gallery. Her work has been featured in BOMB Magazine, The Here & There Collective, Topical Cream, Architectural Digest, The New York Times and Impulse Magazine among others. Arai’s work is in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.


CV available upon request