Combining painting and sculpture into innovative forms
My work uses folding to transform paintings into draped, totemic sculptures.
The forms appear both timeless and enigmatic, drawing viewers into a moment of presence, curiosity, and imagination.
Searching for a way to move beyond the confines of the stretched canvas, I began folding painted canvas. Through repetition, methodical inquiry, and the guidance of my hands on the material itself, the paintings gradually became sculptural forms.
I have always made things.
Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in the yard for hours, gathering grass, leaves, and sticks and tying them into small bundles. My uncle called them my "religious objects," and making them was where I felt most at home, following my imagination and creating a world of my own.
I was born in Honolulu, spent part of my early childhood in Northern Idaho, and later returned to Hawaii. As someone of mixed Japanese descent, I often felt between cultures, never entirely belonging to one group or another.
Moving between places and feeling like an outsider who never quite fit in taught me early that belonging would not come from following the crowd.
I earned a BFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, where I studied sculpture, painting, and printmaking.
I later spent two decades in New York working in digital design and textile and surface-pattern design. That experience continues to shape my understanding of color, pattern, repetition, and material. After moving to Los Angeles, these strands came together in a sustained investigation into the forms a painting could take.
After a period of personal upheaval, I rebuilt my life as a single mother and returned fully to the studio. Today, I create contemporary folded paintings and sculptural wall works that move between painting, textile, and sculpture. My work grew from learning to trust my hands, follow my curiosity, and make a path where one did not already exist.
I have exhibited my work for more than three decades, and it is held in collections throughout the United States and internationally. Recent milestones include a six-week residency in Mexico City and features in Colossal, Design Milk, and Designboom. I also mentor artists through Mastering New Markets, a course devoted to building resilient art careers.