About
About
Kazuyo was born in Japan and came to America to find out about America and herself. She enrolled to the Art Institute in 1976 to study art. At the Art Institute, she studied American Abstract Expressionism, influenced by Hassel Smith, Tom Holland and Sam Tchakalian. After studying at the Art Institute for eight years, she emerged as a painter with a unique style of abstraction embodying Eastern and Western heritage.
Her act of painting is an adventure into unmapped territory. Crawling into the earth or flying into the sky she empties herself out to channel the energy that drives all creation. Guided by intuition, she paints what is in that space; it is "a song or dance" made by her hands. Her paintings are created in the space where songs are created and where life is created. The joy present in her paintings is the joy of life recognizing and celebrating its existence.
Although she is drawn to some metaphoric images from time to time, her focus is not in the representative world we inhabit. Nor is her focus on an imaginary world, or a dream world. Her expression taps into what exists before language or representation, before emotion or thought. Using the technique of American Abstract expressionism she captures pieces from this world of raw creation and places them onto the canvas, where they retain their power and life.
She believes that the essence of the performance and installation art movement developed from American Abstract Expression; spontaneity, even accidents, are an expression of life in progress. She does not deliberately design, adding a dash of color here, or removing a symbol there, because the painting itself would cease to be complete and alive, and instead be just a narrow expression of an individual artist. Each work instead expresses all of life, just as it is, making every stroke and patch essential; each element expresses the whole of the painting, just like a person’s individual thoughts and actions express and create their whole life and being. Removing her ego and expectations from the process, she endures for her paintings to emerge living from her canvas after many blood shedding attempts. Today, Kazuyo lives and works in Oakland.
Statement
I paint because it is a joy to see something no one has ever seen before. Creating a painting is like going to an exciting and unknown country. It is challenging because the canvas is always white and empty to start with. It is exhilarating because there is total freedom to create anything. Imagine making a delicious cake without using a recipe or measuring ingredients, rather using intuition and experience to guide your hands.
In the process I run back and forth, turn the painting around and around, jump, scratch, dance, and play. Sometimes it is exhausting, sometimes difficult or painful, but like living, it is always fulfilling and something to be thankful for. When the painting is complete it is as if it is ready to walk or jump off from the canvas. This is when my paintings get their names. The experience is like creating, birthing, raising, and letting go of a fully formed child.
Sometimes there are symbols or patterns in my paintings. They are not clues or mysteries meant for analysis in isolation, any more than a person’s ears or singing voice or food preferences give you a complete sense of their self. Neither are they without cause. They are like the freckles on a person’s face, or a tall child next to short parents, or birds in a flock. Sometimes seeming obvious, sometimes mysterious, always open to interpretation, and nonetheless enchanting and sensible before any interpretation occurs. Remember that interpretation occurs after sensation.
For me painting is not an escape from life, or an occupation, or a calling, it is life. Though my process of painting is always challenging, and happens even when I am sad or angry, my paintings are cheerful and optimistic. My discipline lies in not using painting as an outlet for my thoughts or emotions. So my paintings are unburdened and free to express the simple joy of their existence.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2011
- New Art Center, 580 8th Ave., 5th Floor, New York, NY
- 50 Fremont St., San Francisco, CA
2009
- 525 Market St., Kazuyo Paintings, San Francisco, CA
Group Exhibitions
2010
- Galleria De’ Marchi, “Little Treasures”, Bologna, Italy
- Rogue Space Chelsea, New York, NY, Juried Show
- Coos Art Museum, “Expressions West 2010”, Coos Bay, Oregon, Juried Show
- French Amerique Show, Paris, France
2009
- Tiburon Art Festival, San Francisco, CA, Juried Show
- Art Soup 20, San Francisco, CA
- Seed Corn Gallery, Berkeley, CA
- Chocolate Salon Show, Fort Mason, CA
2008
- Holiday Show, Evolving Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Serenity Fall 2008, UCSF Center for Reproductive Health, San Francisco, CA
- Galerie Gora, Woman's Alliance, Montreal, Canada
- California Modern Art Gallery "Reflections of the Bay", San Francisco, CA, Juried show
- Tiburon Art Festival, San Francisco, CA, Juried show
- Seed Corn Gallery, Berkeley, CA
- Marin Art Festival, Lagoon Park in Mill Valley, CA
2007
- SF Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA, multiple exhibitions
- Inaugural Tiburon Art Fair, Tiburon, CA, selected by Kenneth Baker
- Global Art Annual, 2007 Art Now, www.artoteque.com, Artoteque, London.
- Mad River Post, Fall Show, selected by William Torphy, San Francisco, CA
- Expressions Gallery, Abundance of Color and Light, Berkeley, CA
- Arches Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
- Salmagundi Art Club, New York, NY
- Victor East/West Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Temari, Berkeley, CA
2006
- Abstract Exposure, www.abstractexposure.com
- SF Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA, multiple exhibitions
2004
- East Bay Women Artists show, Montclair, CA
Collectors
- Anna Falvo, Castro Valley, CA
- Martha Laham, Alameda, CA
- Mel Lorch, New York, NY
- Michael Loughlin, San Francisco, CA
- Renee Fladen-Kamm, Berkeley, CA
Awards
- Third Place, Spirit of Howdy Art Contest, Northern California Mountain Biking League
- Inclusion in Online Biennial by Artoteque
- Guests Gallery 2008 International Art Show, Top 10, 2008
- Artoteque Art Now 2 online global art annual, Honorable Mention, 2007
- San Francisco Women Artists, Merit Award, 2005
Affiliations
- McKinley Art Solutions, San Francisco, CA 2008-present
- Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA 2009-
- William Torphy Fine Arts, San Francisco 2007-present
- Mesart 2006-present
- The Saatchi Gallery
- World Art Media/New York Art
- Pro Arts, Oakland, CA, 2004-present
- San Francisco Women Artists, SF, CA 2006-present
- Woman’s Alliance in Marin, CA, 2006-present
Education
- Studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA 1977-1984, 2011-2013
- Bachelor of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Institute