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“Motoko Yasue’s art is lush and deep with spiritual content where eastern and western forms collide resulting in rich spiritual associations in her watercolors, paintings and sculptures. Her art balances the figurative in luminous abstraction elevating the viewer's experience towards the heavens. Her lush works clearly connect fine traditions of both the east and western civilizations.”
--- by Artist/Professor Michael Roque Collins
ARTIST STATEMENT

I depict my adoration for nature that embraces human life in my art – oil painting, watercolor, and sculpture. The core of my artworks is an abstract landscape with a circle often along with small silhouettes of figures within it. One has psychological tendencies to perceive visual information according to what she or he wants to see, based on their own life experiences. My challenge is to share “a moment" that is reflected as fractions of my memories with the viewer but also, and more importantly, that they too may explore and find their own narratives within my abstract landscapes.
I begin my work with a geometric, circular shape which is an inspiration from an old architectural oculus on a wall of the tea ceremony room in the historic temple located in my home country of Japan. The sacred oculus has pleased the visitors’ eye for a thousand years by illuminating the outside scenery seen through the opening cut-out in a circular shape. For me, it represents a portal from which one’s spirit travels from one person to another beyond time and space. Metaphorically, it alludes to my life and the cultures between Japan and here in the U.S. The oculus in my artwork also becomes a device to introduce the juxtaposition of two concepts opposed to each other such as 'inside and outside', 'light and dark', 'cold and warm', 'man-made and natural', or 'meticulous and spontaneous'.

 In my creative artistic processes, I explore techniques by using accidental occurrences or happenings that I get by dripping, pouring, and scraping-off effects of paint, just as one must accept their own fate at times in life. Contrasting “thick and thin” paint applications reveals the fluctuations in one’s life stages. In addition, the oozing effects of colors are crucial elements to reflect my innermost soul in each work to engage the audience. Ostensibly, I express my deepest senses and feelings about nature along with human life through what I am visually fascinated, while manipulating colors and shapes to pursue progressing light sources in each of my abstract landscapes.

ACTIVITIES

>>> Related Link

with Photographer Mieko Mahi

*Nickname "Gloria":

​MOTOKO is often called "Gloria" by her American friends.  When she arrived in the USA, that nickname was given by a neighbor and close friend who had a hard time pronouncing her name and recognized her artistic talent and strongly encouraged her to formally pursue the study of art. Though he is no longer with us, Motoko used the nickname during her study at her first art school as a symbol of her affection and appreciation for his wisdom and encouragement.

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