Current Exhibition -

Junko Yamamoto

June 4th - June 28th, 2009

Opening Reception:  Thursday, June 4th, 6-8pm

Gallery IMA is pleased to present a solo show featuring Junko Yamamoto!

Junko Yamamoto, Shunyata Series - Sleep in, Oil On Canvas, 20" x 16"

Japanese-born Seattle artist Junko Yamamoto meditates on shunyata, the Sanskrit word for emptiness, and the contrasting concept of fullness.  It is in it is in this light that she turns herself inward to examine her own knowledge, perceptions, and memories.  Her canvases evoke images from her youth, calling on the bright colors and heavy texture of children's kimonos patterned with lotus roots, rice bowls, and curiously wordless comic book-style speech bubbles.  These elements come together to reveal a charming and whimsical dialogue about human consciousness, occurring between artist and viewer as well as within herself.  The title of this show, coro coro, is a Japanese term describing the action of rolling.

Junko graduated Cum Laude from Cornish College of the Arts in 1999 and has since shown her work in galleries across the United States as well as abroad.  She has been reviewed in several publications such as Art Ltd. and Art in America.