Born in Nagano, Japan in 1975. Kamijo received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Oregon in 2000, and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Washington in 2002. He is particularly known for his series of paintings featuring poodles that began in 2014. The poodle is a breed loved for its many grooming options, and some have been unnaturally miniaturized as a result of repeated selective breeding. From the human perspective, they could be described as extraordinarily sculptural living creatures. In Kamijo’s works, the model of the motif is abstracted, and its basic parts are reinterpreted into simple silhouettes. During the process of abstraction or simplification, the artist adds decorative elements such as unexpected colors, or dots, that would be impossible on an actual poodle. Kamijo’s abstraction has the poodles stripped of their corporeality and fragmented into block-like forms. Nevertheless, the boldly reinterpreted bodies amplify the dynamism and the sense of motion of poodles. Only the facial expressions are not abstracted but instead have an unusual quality that could be described as anthropomorphic. While poodles are an intelligent breed, it seems rather as though it is their spirituality that is expressed in these paintings—their eyes are peeled and teeth bared as they look in our direction, or their eyes and snout are portrayed in an aggressively angular fashion. Kamijo’s reputation has grown as a result of regular exhibitions, predominantly in Europe and the United States. In 2017, he published “Poodles” (Pacific), a book of his paintings.