May 2009
Guest artist: Priscilla Otani
I am a mixed media artist who uses Photoshop, paint, image transfers, printmaking and/or collage to create my images. I grew up in Kobe, Japan and moved to San Francisco when I was 18. As a Eurasian, I consider myself bi-cultural: when I go home to Japan I do typical Japanese things like go to the baths with my family, check out the latest fashions in Tokyo and dine at my favorite yakitori stand. When I come home to San Francisco, I’m either at an Oakland A’s game, working on a Women’s Caucus exhibition or hosting an artists’ salon. This duality translates into my art – I often reference Asian themes but with a Western social issue twist.
Growing up in an urban setting has also influenced the way I approach art. Japanese cities offer an overabundance of material goods and services. Advertisements are plastered over buildings, public transportation systems and billboards. Smells of all kinds – sweet, savory, fishy, smoky, vinegary, musty – fill the air. Noises from cars, pachinko parlors, music stores and restaurants assault the ear. This visual and auditory overkill stimulates me. I start my work with lots of reference points and piles of materials. This is true whether I am working with tactile materials such as paper, fabric, pen & ink, paint and tape or digital media such as photographs and scans. Concepts reveal themselves in the winnowing process and eventually lead to a series of related works.
My digital collages involve layering different images through Photoshop. The “All Dolled Up” series was created for the annual Altered Barbie Show in San Francisco. I morphed a Barbie image with faces of my friends to create Skanky Doll, Mustache Doll, Bushy Eyebrow Doll and Braces Doll. It makes a statement about Asian perceptions of beauty and the preponderance of plastic surgery to create the ideal anime persona. Another series called “Hiro” digitally collages a robot with faces of Japanese soldiers killed during World War II, then is heavily painted with lithographic ink. This series reflects on the futility of war.
Other collages manifest themselves in artists’ books and mailart. I make both altered books and handmade books, using a variety of collage techniques. The great thing about making books is that you can collage all sorts of unusual materials. Two examples of books I’ve made: “Buru” is a vertical accordion book that is made with oiled paper, gel transfer images adhered together with iron-on interfacing. This book was exhibited in a Bay Area show titled Banned & Recovered – Artists Respond to Censorship. “Reminders of War” is an altered book that includes fabric, paint, collage, photographs and mylar. It was exhibited in a show titled Effects of War.
I’ve been involved in mailart for many years. In 2007, I put together a show called Red/White/Blue in which I created more than 100 postcards using those colors. They were displayed in the window of a rural post office in Pennsylvania. Mailart is a fabulous way to experiment with collage techniques in a small format, whether it be postcards, envelopes or postage stamps.
Other examples of Priscilla's art can be viewed at www.mrpotani.com and her blog. A selected list of exhibits can be found on her Bio page. She also created a blog for the Women Artists on Immigration exhibition she was in in February 2009 in Los Angeles.
