To read more about what's happening in my studio, please check out my blog at:
matateishi.blogspot.com

[March 2010]
I'm really excited about this painting that I've just completed for my upcoming show at the Nikkei Heritage Museum in May and June of this year. For this project, I got the opportunity to go through the Museum's archives and take inspiration from their artifacts. I became interested in the idea of how vital Japantown used to be before the internment, and my paintings are about an imagined world where the old Japantown evolves into a new lively one.

In this painting, the image of the dowry in the top corner was the original inspiration. I painted layers of bright kimono fabric representing Japanese brides and lace representing Western brides, then a layer of the dark turquoise seen in kimonos for married women (sadly they put away their bright colours after marriage!) and on the final layer I painted a Western bridal gown. I tore the layers back, added a bit of pattern fabric and then a layer of resin. Voila, the painting that is currently making me feel energized and elated. Many more to come!

[July 2009]
I finally got to exhibit one of the "combination" installations that I have been creating in the studio. Here is "chaos and cute things" or as it was instantly dubbed "10 feet of crazy energy". The exhibit was at the Seymour Art Gallery in July.

[March 2009]
In December I had a new wall built in my studio. It’s great and I have more privacy and more space to work. Right now I’m celebrating the new wall by creating a giant composition of new, smaller works. I think of them as mix-n-match paintings. Here’s what they look like so far, but they change daily.