#tim okamura

[fyblackwomenart]

“Bear Fang” by Tim Okamura

[mlleclaudine]

Artist Paints Striking Portraits of Real Women of Color as Fearless Female Warriors

by Regina Sienra - My Modern Met, August 5, 2024

“Ebony Obsidian the Unbreakable”

Artist Tim Okamura first heard about Tomoe Gozen, a Onna-Bugeisha or “woman warrior” about 10 years ago, but the story stuck with him ever since. “I think the fact that the female samurai fought alongside men, had the same responsibilities and expectations resonated with me deeply,” he tells My Modern Met. In this figure, he found a creative engine, sparking a powerful series of paintings titled Onna-Bugeisha, where women of color are ready to take a stand and emerge victorious in a dystopian near future.

Okamura felt drawn to depict women from underrepresented communities both due to having grown up with a diverse group of friends and the lack of representation in portraits he saw in the galleries and museums he visited. “I felt called to consciously focus on creating work, specifically portraits based in an academic tradition, of people who were missing from the museums, people of color, whose stories deserved to be captured on canvas, with great care and reverence,” he says.

In his paintings, women don ornate kimonos and traditional garments, but also hold katanas with a defying look in their eyes. The highly realistic approach goes beyond Okamura's proficient use of light and shadow in their expression. He expertly depicts the veins and bruises on their arms, as well as the texture of natural hair. While hands have been a perennial challenge for painters, Okamura appears to depict them effortlessly, even reveling in painting them in different poses.

“The Northern Emissaries”

The artist shares that he has always loved the challenge of painting faces and putting human stories on canvas, which has in turn influenced his style. “Portraying someone in a way that both celebrates them as an individual and points to a larger metaphor for the human condition has always been important to me. Therefore I've always worked in the mode of realism. I think my technique has developed over time to be more impasto (thicker paint), textured, and with more push and pull on the paint surface, and with more exploration of abstraction, or micro-abstraction, in my backgrounds.”

The women depicted in his paintings are all real women he knows personally and commends for their positive energy. “At the risk of sounding cliché, seeing the inner light projecting outward as an important consideration when choosing my subjects, whether the painting is about them specifically, or whether they are playing a role, such as that of a female Samurai, as in the Onna-Bugeisha series,” Okamura says. “I feel very fortunate that I've found such great alignment with the spirit of the work, and the women who have participated in the process. Having an energetic connection I think is key to creating the best work possible.”

Aware of the threat women's rights are facing around the world, Okamura felt compelled to create this group of fearless heroes. “I believe the role of the artist is to open up avenues to alternate, constructive pathways and to establish new visions through elevated narratives,” he concludes. “I hope the Onna-Bugeisha series will inspire viewers to get unstuck from the muck and mire of discrimination and prejudice and can offer inspiration for a better future women warriors will play a key role in building.”

“Yaya the Demon Slayer”

“The Expectant Guard”

“The Fatal Crane”

“Lethal Hummingbird and Golden Fox”

“Luminescence”

“Conduit _ Conductor”

“Lighthouse Fire”

“Laws of Nature”

“Encouraging Words (Omoiyari)”

“Eventide (Song of Liberty)”

“Safe Space”

Tim Okamura: Website | Instagram

[justascribbla]

Tim Okamura. The Fatal Crane.

Tim's art is inspired by Onna-Bugeisha (Japanese women warriors).

[xpuigc-bloc]

Women Warriors Confront History and Contemporary Issues in Tim Okamura’s Striking Portraits

“Full Bloom.”

“Northern Emissaries”

“Luvvie Ajayi”

“Ebony Obsidian the Unbreakable”

“Yaya the Demon Slayer”

“KNOW YOUR RIGHTS”

“Fire Walk With Me”

“Encouraging Words (Omoiyari)”

[contemporaryartsgallery]

Tim Okamura

[sheltiechicago]

Atinka the Fatal Crane, 2023, oil, origami paper cranes, acrylic on wood panel, 60 × 48 inches.

Tim Okamura

Painting empathy and resistance.

Storm Warrior (Knight & Squire), 2019, oil and aerosol on canvas, 76 × 60 inches.

Battle Cry (Empress Tyra and General Lo vs. The Parasite), 2023, collaboration with Woodz, acrylic, oil, oil paint marker on canvas, 108 × 102 inches. 

Freedom Fighters, 2017–23, paint marker, oil, mixed media on canvas, 144 × 208 inches. 

[riffsandfragments]

“Nurse Tracy” (2021) by Tim Okamura, via

[gonzalo-obes]

TIM OKAMURA 4 Galería de obras de la artista Tim Okamura. Cuarta parte. La galería con muchas más imágenes y a más calidad está en http://obesia.com/index.php/arte/4282-tim-okamura-4

[itscolossal]

Women Warriors Confront History and Contemporary Issues in Tim Okamura’s Striking Portraits

[skjam]

September Challenge Movies Poll

[fyblackwomenart]

Yaya the Demon Slayer by Tim Okamura

[shaddad]

a arte de tim okamura

[afrotumble]

Artist - Tim Okamura

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

STILL THE MOST (IN)FAMOUS GEISHA GIRLS IN THE HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC.

PIC(S) INFO: (L to R): Spotlight on Kuniko Okamura and Michi Hirota, members of Japan's Red Buddha Theatre/dance company, photographed by American photo-artist Karl Stoecker for glam rock/art rock band SPARKS "Kimono My House" LP sleeve cover art, c. 1974.

MADELINE BOCARO: "Who were the two geishas on the cover, or were they actually guys in drag?"

RUSSELL MAEL: "The two girls were members of a Japanese dance company touring England in 1974. They are women, not men, not Ron, not me. We were very happy that Island Records allowed us not to have the name of the band nor the album title on the front cover. We thought the image alone would speak loudly enough. Try to get a company to go along with that concept today."

SLEEVE ART MINI-OVERVIEW: "The "Kimono My House" album cover, featuring two slightly askew kimono-clad geishas with absolutely no mention of the band at all, has been voted among the best album covers of all time in almost every poll taken. Beck named it again in the November 2001 issue of "Vanity Fair."

Island Records’ Marketing Director Tim Clark fashioned his promotional strategy for Sparks after the one he had implemented with ROXY MUSIC. “The very name SPARKS meant to us that the music would lend itself to a very glossy and arty feel.”  The photographer of Roxy’s glamorous album covers, Karl Stoecker and art director Nicholas de Ville were recruited to create the iconic cover of Kimono My House, though the concept of the goofy geishas was completely Ron Mael’s idea."

PART II: The two garish geishas on the cover of "Kimono My House" with smeared makeup and disheveled hair were the antithesis of Roxy’s classy covers. They laughed in the face of cover art, while at the same time making history as one of its greatest examples! One of them seems to foresee this – with a wink! The chosen cover photo was actually an outtake, shot near the end of the photo session.

It has been voted among the best album covers of all time in almost every poll taken. Beck named it again in the November 2001 issue of "Vanity Fair." The models, Michi Hirota and Kuniko Okamura were from Japan’s Red Buddha Theatre headed by Stomu Yamashta performing in London at the time. The geisha on the right is Michi Hirota, who also provides the memorable abrasive spoken Japanese vocals on the song "It’s No Game (Part 1)" on David Bowie’s "Scary Monsters" album, 1980."

-- MADELINE X (Madeline Bocaro blogspot), "SPARKS’ Iconic Album Cover – "Kimono My House," retrospective, c. 2015

Source: www.madelinex.com/2014/12/25/sparks-iconic-album-cover-kimono-my-house.

[soleminisanction]

12 and 17?

12. Pick up to 7 characters to star in a Teen Titans ongoing (any era or generation you like). What tone do you envision for this series?

I am so predictable but: Kon, Cassie, Tim, Bart, Solstice, Jaime, and the Hiro Okamura Toyman. I picture it as a balance between coming-of-age (from teenager to young adulthood, similar to the New Teen Titans) mixed with some Epic Destiny fun as each one catches the eye of one of the Titans/lesser-known Greek gods and winds up working towards fulfilling the next stage of the Ancient Greek succession cycle.

17. Who is the best civilian love interest, and why?

I mean it's got to be Lois. She's the first, she's the best-developed, she's the most vital to her respective superhero's legacy. She's literally iconic. There's no contest.

[prettylittleproblem]

Tim Okamura