Chicago-based Mayumi Lake creates emotionally charged photographic narratives. Lake's work, often revisiting her childhood fantasy, expresses despair, yearning, and hope. She employs herself and others as her models, as well as dolls, toys, weapons, vintage clothes, and altered landscape as her props.
Mayumi Lake studied photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Since 1997, Lake’s work has been exhibited at national and international venues including MIT List Visual Arts Center, Institute of Contemporary Art (London), Fotografie Forum International (Frankfurt), Art In General, Asia Society, and Museum of Sex (New York). Her work is in the permanent collections at various institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Asia Society, and Joy of Giving Something Foundation. Nazraeli Press published two monographs by Lake (Poo-Chi, Ex Post Facto). In 2008, international photography magazine EYEMAZING featured her Ex Post Facto series. She lives and works in Chicago.