Drama is the first impression. Motoko really works her canvasses and, while tending toward more restricted palettes, her use of colour is masterful. You’ll see glowing depths, wonderful, inspired blending, and dollops of milky, almost chunky colour that really pop out at the viewer. Each segment of her diptychs, triptychs, and four-panel paintings shows strong stand-alone composition in deceptively simple colours. Motoko’s large acrylic paintings are minimalist, with a strong sense of design, with influences from abstract impressionism as well as Japanese classical painting with its emphasis on nature, simplicity, and harmony.
In Motoko’s words, “I paint what I feel.” And she feels increasingly drawn to more restrained palettes and to the essential influences of nature (earth, water, wind, fire). She also feels strongly that “this is what the world needs” and hopes her work invokes serenity and focus in the midst of clashing and contradictory influences in contemporary culture.
Motoko was born and raised in Japan and moved to Canada when she was 29. She has been operating her successful gallery on the Sunshine Coast, in Sinclair Bay, since 2005. Zen philosophy greatly influences her life and work. Some Zen principles include understatement, the avoidance of clutter and the nonessential, and the use of asymmetry and empty space.
Visit Motoko’s gallery and you’ll find the entire experience is informed by these principles. Her gallery space is bright and uncluttered, with a charming water feature just outside. Up some rough stone steps is a rock garden with a dramatic cliff looming protectively alongside. Motoko likes to take her morning coffee there to watch the light play on the wild plants and moss and to feel the energy of the stone before she begins her day’s work.
Words | Nancy Pincombe
