Tomoko Hayashi is a Japanese artist based in Kyoto. Rooted in formative experiences of the vast desert landscapes near Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the Great Hanshin Earthquake, her practice explores invisible flows and relationships that continue beyond human-constructed order. Through fieldwork-based, multisensory installations incorporating light, sound, moving image, textiles, and other materials, she attends to the distinct temporalities and processes of different forms of existence, from geological and cosmic timescales to the minute activities of microorganisms.
In recent years, her research has focused on wetlands, exploring processes of generation, decomposition, and accumulation, and their relationships with human memory and the unconscious. Beginning with the ancient wetland of Mizorogaike in Kyoto, her research has expanded to Ireland and France, including research at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in 2025 and a residency at Cité internationale des arts in Paris in 2026.
Her work has been presented internationally at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the National Museum of Art, Osaka; the Centre of Contemporary Art Toruń, Poland; and the Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto. Recent solo exhibitions include Reweaving the Rainbow (2021) at Zuiun-an, Kyoto, and and the world is mud (2024) at Kyoto Art Center.
これまでにVictoria and Albert Museum（ロンドン）、国立国際美術館（大阪）、Centre of Contemporary Art Toruń（ポーランド）、熊本市現代美術館などで作品を発表。近年の個展に「虹の再織」（2021、瑞雲庵、京都）、「そして、世界は泥である」（2024、京都芸術センター）がある。 ——-
2024, 6 Nov 林智子「そして、世界は泥である」, Art Meets Technology, Nissha Foundation, Kyoto 2024, 1 May 深泥池に通って企画した展覧会「そして世界は泥である」 , Kyoto Shimbun, Kyoto 2021, 23 May 祖父の記憶と森羅万象 現代美術家林智子が織った「虹」, Erena Tanaka, Asahishinbun, Osaka 2021, 05 April アネモメトリ てのひらのデザイン ｢祖父の写真｣ 林 智子, Kyoto University of the Arts, Kyoto 2019, 14 Nov 煙霧香港觀「煙‧起‧天」微波新媒體藝術節中的飲食與眼淚, Stand News, Hong Kong 2017, 22 Feb Exploring the concept of absence by Jyoti, Calsi, Gulf News, Dubai, UAE 2017, 19 Feb Arts & Culture, by Anna Seaman, The National, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2015, 10 OctExhibition Catalogue, Stance or Distance?, Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan 2015, 04 Sep Culture, Kumamoto Nichi Nichi Newspaper, Kumamoto, Japan 2014, 20 JunTear Collector Tomoko Hayashi, by Michael Abatemarco, Pasatiempo, New Mexican 2013, 08 July Cultural Development Consulting "Q&A Alternatives Tomoko Hayashi Part 2" by Alasdair Foster read more 2013, 26 June Cultural Development Consulting, "Q&A Alternatives Tomoko Hayashi Part 1" by Alasdair Foster read more 2013, 14 August PUNKT Magazine Issue11 read more 2009, 17 August The Scotsman "How absence makes the heart grow fonder" by Claire Black read more 2009, 04 August BBC News, Cities test for 'intimacy' device read more 2009, 24 June The Skinny, Drawn Together by Mutsugoto Mark Daniels read more 2009, 07 May The Globe and Mail, The future of sleep Zosia Bielski read more 2009, 21 April BBC News "Couples to test 'intimacy' device" read more 2008, 19 October The Sunday Times "How you can feel the love across thousands of miles?" read more 2008, 11 - 15 August SIGGRAPH 2008 International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Los Angeles 2007, December Kansai Scene Magazine :: Art, Skin of/in Contemporary Art by Maki Nibayashi, Nihon Paper Inc., Osaka, Japan 2007, December Artscape, Exhibition Review by Chiho Sakai, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan 2007 November The Japan Times, Skin goes only so deep by Matthew Larking, The Japan Times Ltd., Tokyo, Japan 2007 November Art-iT, Exhibition ReviewsSkin of/in Contemporary Art by Ozaki Tetsuya, Art iT, Tokyo, Japan 2007, October Museum News, by Yukihiro Hirayoshi, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan 2007, October L magazine, Art by Taku Okayama, Keihanshin L magazine, Osaka, Japan 2007, October Kansai Art Beat Magazine, Skins of Contemporary Art Exhibition, KANSAI ART BEAT, Osaka, Japan 2007, October Nikkan Sports, Osaka event, Nikkan Sports News, Osaka, Japan 2007, October Kansai.com, Event, Kansai.com.Inc, Osaka, Japan 2007, October Mainichi Daily News, Contemporary Art by Haruo Mita, The Mainichi News Papers Co.,Ltd.,Tokyo, Osaka 2007, October CINRA.NET, Art/Design News, CINRA.Inc., Tokyo, Japan 2007, October Moonlinx, Headline-Visual, Moonlinx, Tokyo, Japan 2007, September AERA, ART-BIT by Hisako Hara, Asahi Shinbun Company, Tokyo, Japan 2007, January idCast, Do not touch...? An interview with Lauren Parker, Curator of V&A,interactiondesignlab, Milan, Italy 2007, January Fiberarts magazine, Curtains by Liz Good, Interweave Press LLC, Colorado, USA 2006, JulyBT magazine, "zerozero generation2", Bijyutsu Shyuppan-sha, Tokyo, Japan 2005, June Sunday Times, Getting a bit physical at the V&A by Nancy Durrant, London, UK 2005, June new Directions in Jewelleryby Jivan Astfalck, Caroline Broadhead and Paul Derrez, Black Dog Publishing, London, UK
TV 2016 Éros au futur, ICI ARTV, Quebec, Canada 2009, 26 August Discovery Science Channel PopSci's Future Of: Mutsugoto
