After studying design in Osaka, Mayumi Nakao (born 1985 in Kobe) fulfilled a childhood dream of living abroad by moving to New York in 2013. There, meeting artists who had come from all over the world to pursue their own ambitions transformed her path. Inspired by their commitment, she joined the Art Students League, where she refined her oil painting technique.

In 2022 she held her first solo exhibition in New York, followed by another in Tokyo the year after. Selected as a finalist for the Bennett Prize, she exhibited at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan. Mayumi Nakao also takes part in artist residencies, notably at La Fourchette de Rose in Côte d’Ivoire, and has made work in Italy and in Africa.