Oiran with Hookah,

Concept

I am a Japanese-American artist. People’s faces and figures fascinate me. Sometimes, it is the beauty and attractiveness of the face or figure; sometimes, it is another element. It could be the anatomical structure, attitude, outfit, pose, or energy. It could be the deep wrinkles on leathery skin that make me think of the myriad life stories that the person carries or a complex facial expression with mixed emotions. When I sense such a unique quality, I am inspired to paint.

Painting is a magical process. It is very satisfying when my work captures the essence of an object or a model. The outcome often surprises me. Portrait painting is especially rewarding because when the person on the canvas looks back at me, and I can see the magic that leads me there, I know I have done my job. I use oil paint primarily because it is dynamic, yet flexible. I love its physical feel - the stickiness, the volume, and the texture. Light and shadow play key roles in describing the emotion and drama of my paintings, as well as the beauty of the human figures.

I paint models from diverse backgrounds from the U.S., Japan, South Pacific, Indonesia, and others. I paint from life and photographs; some figures are precisely the way they are in real life, and others are transformed into a different setting or the environment according to my imagination. My current projects include those which depict the oneness of the world to relinquish inequality, conflict, and separateness and to explore sacred and higher consciousness.