Susanne Okamoto, Four Koi Header

About the Artist

Welcome to this website. It is a work in progress intended to document my artwork from the 1980’s until the present. When it is finished it will be a record of the paintings I have done since I completed my studies at Moore College of Art and Design in 1984. This will make it possible for those who are interested to see the evolution and transition of my work over time. New work will be added to the site as I continue to create it.

The work is catalogued by years. Since it has been my habit to explore many aspects of the same subject before I move on, this site also tends to be grouped by subject matter.

It is a record of changing abilities, materials and interests. It is a visual record of my early feminist awakening, my experience of the sacred and my experience of Japanese culture through my husband’s family. Paintings of sacred vessels, totemic arrangements of rocks and work influenced by Japanese woodcuts and silk paintings reflect an evolution of personal concerns that are political, spiritual and cultural.

As an artist I strive to bring elegance to the picture plane through composition, line and color. I am unabashedly interested in beauty conveyed by the skillful use of these elements. Since I began painting, my work has undergone a number of incarnations. Boxes have morphed into vessels, vessels into rocks and rocks into other natural objects informed by my fascination with the subject’s color and compositional possibilities. Recent images have roots in 17th century Japanese woodcuts. The flattened elegance, the graceful contours and the beautiful proportions of these works challenge me to find ways to employ them in a contemporary composition.

My medium is oil on gessoed board or watercolor on rag paper. Image sizes range from 6”x 12” to 22”x 30”. I have offered six works as limited edition Giclee prints. Hand crafted frames of solid cherry, walnut, purple heart, or rosewood are a carefully planned part of each finished painting.

Susanne Okamoto March 30, 2013