Gradutation - Solo Exhibition by Edwin Ushiro
July 14th - Aug 1, 2018
Reception July 14th 6:30-10pm
Artist Statement
Graduation is a series of drawings and paintings that recount stories from my childhood that focuses on the point when you have reached a goal and the endless possibilities ahead. They may remind you of a time when everything was a big deal. The world was unfamiliar. I like to think the retelling of these stories offer the characters portrayed in these illustrations a fresh beginning into a journey of a life completely fulfilled.
About Edwin Ushiro
Edwin Ushiro is an artist from Hawaii who is currently residing in Southern California. He captures the essence of Hawaii, youth, and nostalgia in a technique that's uniquely his own.
Edwin Ushiro's work resonates with the echoes of his boyhood in the "slow town" of Wailuku on the Hawaiian island of Maui. In his paintings, he recalls the sun-struck days of youth, when the world was fresh and magical, but also explores the eerie folklore indigenous to dark country roads and the boundless depths of the childhood imagination. While structuring his work around the narrative tradition of "talk story" native to the Hawaiian islands, he interweaves the uncanny obake tales of his Japanese heritage. Working in a unique mixed media technique which involves laboring in ink and acrylic over sheets of repurposed Plexiglas and Lucite printed with assemblages of his more traditional drawings and paintings, he creates reflections on the past that are luminous and nostalgic, like cherished memories burnished by the passage of time.
After earning a BFA with Honors in Illustration from Art Center College of Design, he worked in the entertainment industry as a storyboard artist, concept designer and visual consultant. More recently, he has exhibited in venues worldwide, including Villa Bottini in Italy, the Museum of Kyoto, the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Japanese American National Museum. Last year Edwin created his first and second mural as a participant of POW! WOW! Hawaii and Long Beach. A monograph of his artwork, entitled Gathering Whispers, has been published by Zero+ Publishing. He lives and works between Los Angeles and Maui.
