Feature Articles
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September Issue 2007

Plum Elements in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Mayumi Oda

Internationally-recognized print artist and activist Mayumi Oda will make her first visit to the Lowcountry for the opening of her show, Her Smile Unending: Silkscreens and Etchings of the Ubiquitous Goddess, on view at Plum Elements in Charleston, SC, from Sept. 27 through Oct. 21, 2007.

Oda, who currently lives in Hawaii, is one of the artists featured at Plum Elements. Nature - whether the mountains, sea or gardens - often provides the background for the women and goddesses that fill Oda's silkscreens and etchings. Vibrant colors express a special energy and joy, while her subjects transmit a sense of inner-knowing, contentment, and strength. Of course elements of Japanese design or references infuse most of Oda's work, but her style and subjects cover a range that reflect the wide-range of her life experiences and influences, and the universaltality of the goddesses - how the feminine divine exists in all.

In her writings and her artwork, Oda expresses the wonder, importance, and renewal she experiences from nature and gardening. In her book, Goddesses, she recounts how as a high school student she felt confined, but that during her five-mile ride to and from school through rice paddies and fields she would sometimes stop on her bicycle, "in the middle of a cabbage field taking a deep breath - that was always a moment of liberation."

Born in 1941 in Tokyo, Oda was strongly influenced and supported by her mother's deep appreciation for art and creating, as well as her Buddhist history professor father's presence and outlook. A graduate of the highly competitive Tokyo University, with a degree in Fine Art, she also studied at the Pratt Institute, after her US arrival in the late 1960s. She was married to an American professor of Japanese literature and lived in New York, Princeton and Cambridge. In the late 70's she moved to Muir Beach near the Zen Community Green Gulch Farm. Her work is included in the permanent collection of more than a dozen public institutions including the Museum of Modern Art- New York, Museum of Fine Arts- Boston, and the Library of Congress.

Her work reflects her many experiences and observations. And, while it's very personal, at the same time Oda's work contains aspects to which many instantly connect. "More than 15 years ago, I was first introduced to Mayumi and her work and I felt an immediate connection - it was as if many of my feelings finally found their way to form and color," recalled Andrea Schenck, proprietor of Plum Elements. "So, I was truly honored and completely delighted when she easily agreed when I asked to represent her work here."

"Mayumi's own story and what she draws others to, is following dreams - one's heart," explained Schenck. "Because of this, Mayumi's show and visit here to meet with people who have admired and collected her work is an incredible way to celebrate Plum Elements' first year anniversary."

For more info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call 843/727-3747 or e-mail at (info@plumelements.com).

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Copyright© 2007 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2007 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.