About the Artist
Artist's Statement
My statement is simple . “There is harmony in the universe and we, human beings, are a part of it.”
I have been interested in nature ever since childhood. My university graduation thesis was “The relationship between children and nature.” The conclusion of my thesis was, “By respecting nature, we respect ourselves. We must move with the flow of nature.”
Our Earth has been suffering for a long time from the negative energy we have created. Things such as greed, fighting, wars, terrorism, and nuclear weapons are capable of destroying the Earth many times over, yet there is only one Earth. We tend to think of the Earth as big and full of endless life but if you view her from space, you see that she is small and fragile. We are destroying our Earth and it is more severe than we think. We should change our point of view about our Earth and live together with her in harmony. She is giving us so much and instead of giving her the positive energy and love she needs, we are just taking from her without any return. We should create more positive energy around us and we should give her a lot of love. Thus, “Harmony of the Universe” is the basic statement of my art.
I enjoy painting and drawing anything that is in front of me such as flowers, people, landscape, still life, and abstract images. Recently, I have become very interested in portraits. I have found that the human face is maybe the most complicated and beautiful object in nature. I am especially fascinated in expressing someone who is deeply concentrated in certain areas such as music and dance. I try to express not only the outside features of the person, but also their inner universe.
My art ranges from small detailed drawing to large abstract paintings. However, throughout my art, you will see my message - “We are a part of nature.”
Biography
When I was a child, one day early in the morning, my uncle took me to a meadow. I brought my water color set with me to paint the mountains. I went to go get some water from the river and noticed that it had dried up. I was so disappointed that I almost started to cry. My uncle called out to me, “Come here! I found water.” I couldn’t believe it. He was collecting the morning dew from the leaves. Together we began to collect the tiny dew droplets from the leaves into a small cup. I had enough water and happily finished my painting.
I grew up in the rural country side of Japan and always loved to draw and paint. I graduated from one of Japan’s most prestigious universities, Ochanomizu Woman’s University, where I majored in Child Psychology, Child Physical and Mental Development, and Education.
I became an elementary school teacher in Tokyo and was quite happy with my teaching career. However, I still felt that there was something missing from my life; I realized that it was art.
I thought, “You only live once, so you should go ahead and do what you love to do”. In 1973, I decided to come to New York to pursue my career in art. I studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, The Art Students League in Manhattan, and Parson’s School of Design. Then I joined the Japanese Artists Association of NY and The Salmagundi Club where I participated in numerous group shows in New York City.
To make a living, I worked as an illustrator and worked at several photo retouching studios in New York. I then opened my own studio.
I became pregnant with my daughter and because of my background, I knew that child raising is the most important job a mother can undertake. I therefore put all of my energies into raising my daughter, who was training for a career as a ballet dancer.
While I was waiting in my car for my daughter, who was taking dance lessons, I started to draw a portrait from a photograph. I was a little scared because of nearly a 20 year blank but surprisingly, I had a better feeling than previously. This proved to me that when a mother is raising a child, she can learn many things and develop deeper inner senses. I am proud that I had been a devoted mother.
Now that my daughter is all grown up my passion for art, which never waned, blossomed once again. My creative and technical abilities also have been heightened. Thus, I am once again continuing to pursue my artistic career with confidence.
In January of 2008, I was reaccepted into the Japanese Artists Association of NY.
Previous Solo Exhibitions
2009
★Portrait and Flowers Exhibition 03/03/10 - 04/07/2010
Aikido North Jersey
★Portrait – Dance and Music (Oil paintings and Drawings)
3/02/09 – 3/22/09
Intermezzo Art Gallery @Bergen PAC
★Impression (Abstract Oil paintings) 02/01/09 – 02/28/09
Paramus Public Library
★Portrait and Flowers (Oil paintings, Drawings)
1/02/09 – 1/31/09
The Gallery - Glen Rock Public Library
2008
2008
★Portrait, Abstract (Oil paintings, Drawings) 11/11/08 – 12/13/08
Lounge ZEN Teaneck, NJ
★Silver Project (Abstract Three-dimensional, Drawings)
10/1/08 to 10/31/08
At the Cresskill Public Library Cresskil, NJ
★Harmony of the Universe and Portraits 3/10/08 to 4/30/08 2007
At the Johnson Public Library Hackensack, NJ
2007
★Harmony of the Universe - An Exhibition of Portraits An by Kazumi
11/1/07 to 11/29/07
At the Englewood Public Library Englewood, NJ
★An Exhibition of Portraits by Kazumi
2/1/07 to 2/28/07
At the Teaneck Public Library Teaneck, NJ
Previous group Exhibitions
★JaaNY Annual Exhibition 02/092008 - Present
Tenri Gallery – Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, NY
★Anti Nuclear Power-Art Exhibition 03/11/2013 - present
A&G International Gallery NJ
★Project j-Art2020 01/21/2020 - 03/27/2020
at the Grand Central Library NY
★What an Artful Life 01/08/2019 - 01/29/2019
Present Tenri Gallery – Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, NY
★PEACE 2018 01/08/2018 - 01/21/2018
International Center of CCCS NY
★JaaNY Annual Exhibition, 1974 - 1984
Azuma Gallery - Green street, NY
★Salmagundi Club Annual Exhibition, 1978 - 1984
Salmagundi Club Gallery
★Flowers & Nature 01/16/10 - 02/26/2010
Qulliys gourmet sliders, Fair Lawn, NJ
★Miracle of Fall 12/07/09 - 01/15/10
Qulliys gourmet sliders, Fair Lawn, NJ
Online Art Competitions and Exhibitions
★A Singular Creation 3rd Annual Online Art Competition and exhibition 03/2009 - 02/2010
★Upstream People gallery
1oth Annual Contemporary Art Juried Online International Art Exhibition 05/2008 - 04/2009
★A Singular Creation 2nd Annual Online Art Competition and exhibition 02/2008 - 01/2009