Audrey Kawasaki

Today I stumbled upon an artist whose work was very interesting. Audrey Kawasaki in a young Japanese artist who is known for her paintings and drawings on fresh wood planks. Typically portraits of Japanese men and women, her images are lifelike yet subdued with cartoon characteristics. She is known for her distinctive, erotically charged portrayals of young adolescent women (which are beautiful yet somewhat disturbing). Her portraits are all pretty similar in technique, but all portray completely different people and settings. Kawasaki's paintings are typically oil and graphite on wood.

"The themes in Audrey Kawasaki's work are contradictions within themselves. Her work is both innocent and erotic. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Audrey's precise technical style is at once influenced by both manga comics and Art Nouveau. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing an unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter. 

The figures she paints are seductive and contain an air of melancholy. They exist in their own sensually esoteric realm, yet at the same time present a sense of accessibility that draws the observer to them. These mysterious young women captivate with the direct stare of their bedroom eyes. 

2 years Pratt Institute, Brooklyn - Fine Arts Painting"

(http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/info.php?p=bio)