Escape The House With These 15 Spring Art Exhibitions

After an earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan in March 2011, artist Yuri Shimojo needed some way to process the pain of losing more than 16,000 compatriots in the disaster. Living in New York, far from her native Tokyo, Shimojo began painting Sakura petals, the delicate Japanese cherry tree blossoms that somehow continued to bloom amid the debris in Tōhoku, the region at the earthquake’s epicenter. For Shimojo, the repetitive act of painting petals was a form of ritual that she likens to the motions of Buddhist monks counting prayer beads.