At MacTribe, Jess Hemerly interviewed the incredible painter Audrey Kawasaki. Thanks to Kirsten Anderson at Roq La Rue Gallery, I'm fortunate enough to have one of Ms. Kawasaki's pencil drawings, seen here at right, hanging in my living room.
From the interview:
MacTribe: What was your concentration (while studying at Pratt), fine arts or illustration?
AK: My concentration was fine arts painting, but since I was there for only 2 years I never had the chance to really dive into my work. So all the painting I did there were of nude models, oil on large canvas. I once brought my painted girls on wood (similar to what I do now) and both professors who I very much admire told me to stop, and never to work like that again.
MacTribe: And that's why you left before graduating?
AK: That's not the reason I left early. I would have agreed with them, if I wanted to pursue 'fine art' in New York art standards: very conceptual, and to me, inaccessible and too high class. I think the west coast is much more accepting of young artists…
MacTribe: Are there any contemporary artists you really admire?
AK: I admire many. James Jean, Sam Weber, Esao Andrews, Jonathan Weiner. Soma Japanese artists, too, like Aya Kato, Hideaki Kawashima, Fuko Ueda, and Katsuya Terada.
Previously on BB:
• Audrey Kawasaki at Roq La Rue Link
