Kana Tanaka

(Japanese, born 1972)

Kana Tanaka is an installation artist who uses glass to explore light and optical phenomena, and to challenge our conventional ways of seeing. In her own words, “Instead of making simple objects, which the viewer looks at, I create experiences that surround the viewer and affect their senses… Viewers become part of the work as they interact with it and observe light.”

Born and raised in Aichi, Japan, Tanaka specialized in glassblowing at the National Aichi University of Education in Japan, and continued to study glass and light during her Master of Fine Arts degree at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.