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Junko Yamamoto

BIO

 

Junko Yamamoto is a Tokyo-born, Seattle-based artist.

Yamamoto is a multidisciplinary artist with a primary focus on painting. She also explores such mediums as video installation, sculpture, printmaking, costume design, and photography.

Her work has previously been exhibited at numerous galleries around the world including: IMA Gallery Seattle; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House in Ohio; King County Art Gallery aka 4 Culture; Bel- levue Art Museum; SAM Gallery Seattle (displaying her works for over 10 years); Kirkland Arts Center; Poncho Foundation; Henry Art Gallery; Gas Gallery (Torino, Italy); Fresh Paint Art Gallery (Culver City, CA); Andrea Schwalts Gallery (San Francisco); Lotus Roots Gallery (Osaka, Japan); J Trip Gallery (Tokyo, Japan); Portland, Oregon and Boise, Idaho. Junko’s work was recently featured in Art in America Magazine and Studio Visit Magazine. Her works are included in the collections of Swedish Cancer Institute, Harborview Medical Center, Aspen Hotel Group and Mulvanny G2 Architecture.
She received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle in 1999.

Her current line of paintings is based on what she describes as “shunyata,” the Sanskrit word for “emptiness.” She enjoys playing around with the concept of what is empty and what is full. It carries over into the way she uses layers in her art. “For example, the first layer on the surface will usually be hidden deep below other features of the design,” she says.  “But I like to reveal hidden pockets of this layer that show up on the surface.” Shunyata has become the backbone of her portfolio work. While painting, Junko draws on her childhood memories, saying, “Growing up in Japan, I was surrounded by Japanese cartoons and pop culture. I recall wearing pretty, brightly colored kimonos as a little girl…that is very nostalgic for me, I connect with it and it inspires me.” This inspiration is very obvious in her work. Junko’s abstract art straddles Japanese pop culture while remaining distinctly separated from the crowd. Her shunyata series, which may become her life’s work, is a beautiful collection that revels in opulent decorative detail.