Monday entry (for 11/2/09): Artist of interest: Yumiko Kayukawa

Yumiko Kayukawa, born and raised in Naie, a small town in Hokkaido, Japan, is a Japanese artist who "juxtaposes the in-your-face raunchiness of American culture with the delicate folklore and symbolism of the Japanese aesthetic." When Kayukawa was a teenager, she fell in love with American pop-culture via her exposure to American rock n' roll, films and fashion. She deems herself a media junkie. At 16 she entered the art world with her own Manga comic book. She spent a great deal of time drawing Manga, which portrayed westernized characters created in a Japanese style of drawing, though she admits that at the time she didn't think of the style of drawing to be Japanese. It wasn't until she saw a photograph of a unspecified American rock star wearing a traditional kimono that she was inspired to bring the two influences of western pop-culture and traditional Japanese culture together in her art work. Her most recent body of work titled "Wild, Wild East" hones in on the melding of these two cultures. Kayukawa moved to Seattle, Washington four years ago and has said that now living in America and viewing the country she grew up in from the outside has inspired her and helped her create a more striking juxtaposition in her art work. About her artwork, Kayukawa has said, "I'd rather my paintings hang next to rock star pin-ups than on museum walls. Ultimately I want to connect with people all over the world on that level."

Kayukawa's official website.

Interview with Kayukawa by Juxtapoz magazine.

Kayukawa's most recent body of work "Wild, Wild East" is currently being shown at the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco, California.

Wild, Wild East, acrylic and ink on canvas, 2009

Read It To Me, Read It To Me (Ocean), acrylic and ink on canvas, 2009

Have You Ever Been a Foreigner?, acrylic and ink on canvas, 2009

Cat Cookies, acrylic on canvas, 2006