PASSING THROUGH, Paintings by Japanese artist Ayako OnoNEW

Ayako Ono uses imagery of train stations from her native country Japan for her painterly investigation of isolation and identity. All paintings are rendered exclusively in eerie shades of blue used as a filter to focus on the artwork and its message without distraction from particularities of what is depicted.

Ono's conceptual development has been influenced by her experience of moving from the countryside to Tokyo, and from Japan to the U.S., where she has reconsidered her identity and relationships. Ono began to paint train stations to depict loneliness in a public place, loss of identity, and objectivity toward the self.

Her artwork reflects on the experience of being a foreigner in the U.S. as well as on a sense of isolation that has started to arise in Japan as she stayed longer in the U.S.  The experience not only struck loneliness but also liberated her from culture and customs in both Japan and the U.S.

"Questions about one's identity increase as experiences in a foreign country cause a sense of isolation in my country every time I go back to Japan," Ono said.  

Ono moved to the U.S. in 2002 and attended the University of Nevada, Reno where she majored in art and minored in psychology. In May 2010 she received her Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and moved back to Japan in June when her visa expired.

Although Ono's experience is very personal, it is also a global experience shared by many people who have left their home country to live in a different cultural and her interpretation into her paintings are truly transnational and cross-cultural.

Dates
Dec 02, 22010 – Jan 28 2011

Times
Wed – Sat 1p.m. - 7p.m.

Opening
Thursday, Dec 2, 6-9p.m.

Reception
Thursday January 6, 6-9p.m.

Location
Gallery Neuartig, 366 W. 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731