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Barbara Ishikura is a Boston-based figurative painter represented by Kaliner Gallery in NYC. She holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her work explores the intersection of identity, social class, and gender through figurative portraiture, focusing on the female body’s navigation of social spaces and the fluid boundaries between class and culture in contemporary society. Ishikura teaches drawing in Studio Foundation and is a visiting artist and mentor in the Low-Res Graduate Program at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Industry Experience

Recent Exhibitions:

• 2026 – Kaliner Gallery, (solo), NY, NY
• 2025 – Kaliner Gallery, (group), NY, NY
• 2024 – As I See It, (solo), FORMah Gallery, NY, NY
• 2024 – Heirloom Convoy, MassArt x SoWa, Boston, Ma
• 2023 – A Suitable Accomplishment, Trotter & Sholer Gallery, NY, NY
• 2023 – Barbara Ishikura & Isabelle Higgins, LaMontagne Gallery, Boston, Ma
• 2023 – Frippery, Finery, Frills, Barbara Ishikura & Samantha Fields, Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum,  Manchester, VT
• 2022 – We Interrupt This Program, LaMontagne Gallery & Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, Ma
• 2021 – See and Be Seen, Praise Shadows Gallery, Brookline, Ma

Artist Residencies & Awards:

• 2025 & 2022- Cill Railiag, Artist Residency, Fellowship, Ireland
• 2024 – Mass Cultural Council, Grants for Creative Individuals
• 2023 – New York Times – commission “Odalisque on Chaise Lounge”
• 2019 – The Studios at MASS MoCA: An Assets for Artists Program & Grant, North Adams, MA
• 2019 – Jentel, Artist Residency, Fellowship, Banner, WY
• 2018 – Emerging Artist Award and Grant, St. Botolph Club Foundation, Boston, Ma

Publications:

• VoyageLA, “Meet Barbara Ishikura”, March 25, 2024
• The Arts Fuse, “Is There a Boston Art?”, by Helen Miller and Michael Strand, March 10, 2023.
• The Boston Globe, “Between You and Me” is a Portrait of Two Portraitists. by Cate McQuaid, Feb. 28, 2023.
• ArtNet News, “Artists Grapple with the Meaning of Motherhood” by Sarah Cascone, Feb. 17, 2023.
• The Boston Globe, “See and Be Seen,” Praise Shadows Gallery, Brookline, Ma, January 2021.

  Connect:

• barbaraishikura.com
• IG: @barbara.ishikura