Mayuko Ono Gray: Seasons

Mayuko Ono Gray
Seasons

June 6 - July 3, 2012

Table of Contents

The Artist......................................................................... 1
Figurative works ............................................................... 3
Pisces Visual Haiku ........................................................... 7
Japanese Calligraphy My Way ........................................ 11
Midnight Skinny Dipping................................................. 21
Biography...................................................................... 32

Mayuko Ono Gray

Figurative works
Drawing figures are just fascinating. Creating the illusion of the three dimensional form of people with
scribbles of graphite dust has a strange sense of spiritual satisfaction. By drawing these figures, I am
spending the most intimate time with them, and in a way ‘recreating’ them onto the two dimensional surface
of paper. At stages of drawing figuration, many things are noticed; physically and psychologically. I draw
with a sense of hope to capture and preserve the person—their physical existence which is temporary on
this earth, as well as the essence of the person—their living energy.

Pisces Visual Haiku
This group of works is a little “play” for me, as I searched for ways to express my inner emotions. It contains the sensibility of “Haiku”—
which is a very short form of Japanese poetry containing minimum wording. In my works, I used minimum items that are place
carefully within the white paper. The fish symbolized me that I am a Pisces. People who were born under this sign are supposed to be
‘emotional’, which I believe explains why I am always slightly depressed. The whiteness of the paper is also the important part of the
drawings. In Japanese calligraphy, the cleanliness of the paper is as important as the areas of ink. In the negative space of whiteness
the “chi” or “ki”; a form of energy, is allowed to flow freely.

Japanese Calligraphy My Way
I was born in Gifu, Japan. Ever since I was 6 years old, I would spend every Saturday afternoon at a traditional calligraphy school. At
each session, the master/teacher would give me “words” for me to practice. I would spend hours trying to copy the master’s sample.
Paying attention to the strokes, the speed, the pressure of the brush handling— feeling and copying the sensibility of the process that
created the line qualities—the goal was to imitate the master’s sample, and then interpret the line qualities in my own way. The “words”

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used in Japanese calligraphy are usually poetic and resonates to the sensibility of “Haiku”—short and simple, but so much is contained
within. For my works I use famous Japanese proverbs that I repeatedly heard growing up—which shaped my way of thinking or beliefs
in my daily life as youth, and also now they apply to my daily life in the U.S. After all the explorations and encounters to various kinds
of art and concepts of art in the U.S., I felt myself being pulled back strongly to the first art form I encountered in my life; Japanese
calligraphy. My works are “drawings” of Japanese calligraphy composed carefully, rendered in details with graphite pencil. They are
hybrid of Eastern aesthetics and Western drawing practices.

Midnight Skinny-Dipping
Figuration is my main interest and the format of my portfolio. However, in this group of small pen drawings I broke the subjects down
into small parts and segments. That way I could keep more focus on the physical act of drawing; scratching of paper with pen, rather
than constantly stopping to pay attention to the accuracy and proportion. The small parts are juxtaposed along with various bits and
parts of gathered images from magazines and my own photographs.
These compositions are not pre-constructed, rather they are drawn out intuitively in the middle of the night. I let my pen move
freely on the surface of the paper as my mind drifts off. Soon, my mind leaves my physical body and takes a big dip into a
large body of water beneath which my thoughts and memories reside. A long cord connects my mind and the physical body
safely during my exploration; however, it sometimes gets dangerously tangled up with obstacles and creatures that my mind
encounters under the water.

2

Figurative works

Conversation, 2007
96 x 48 inches
graphite on paper

3

Thank You, 2007
48 x 48 inches
graphite on paper

4

White T-Shirt and detail, 2007
30 x 22 inches
graphite on paper

5

Looking Up and detail, 2008
30 x 22 inches
graphite on paper

6

Pisces Visual Haiku

Growth, 2006
22 x 30 inches
graphite on paper

7

Almost, 2007
22 x 30 inches
graphite on paper

8

Path (Triptych; left) and detail, 2008
30 x 22 inches
graphite on paper

9

Passing (Diptych; right) and detail, 2008
30 x 22 inches
graphite on paper

10

Japanese Calligraphy My Way

四面楚歌

Shimen so ka, 2011
Around me only enemy’s songs
23.5 x 46 inches
graphite on paper

11

Irresistible Sweet Pain, 2012
90 x 50 inches
graphite on paper

12

良薬は口に苦し

Ryo-yaku wa kuchi ni nigashi
Good medicine is supposed to be bitter, 2011
24 x 45 inches
graphite on paper

13

二度あることは三度ある。三度目の正直。

Nido aru koto ha sando aru, 2011
What happened twice will happen for the third time
33 x 40 inches
graphite on paper

14

見ぬが花、待つ間が花、知らぬが仏
（見ぬほど綺麗なものはなし)

Minu ga hana, matsu aida ga hana, shiranu ga hotoke
(minu hodo kirei na mono wa nashi), 2011
Flowers Unseen, Flowers While Waiting, Blissful Ignorance
(No more things beautiful than unseen)
41 x 50 inches
graphite on paper

15

疑心暗鬼

Gi shin an ki, 2011
Suspicious Mind Creates
the Dark Monster
30 x 40 inches
graphite on paper

16

千里の道も一歩から

Senri no michi mo ippo kara, 2011
A journey of a thousand miles starts
with a single step
24.8 x 88 inches
graphite on paper

17

雨降って地固まる

Ame futte ji katamaru, 2011
After rain solidifies the ground
24.5 x 88 inches
graphite on paper

18

災い転じて福となす

Wazawai tenjite fuku to nasu, 2011
A Disaster Turns into a Good Fortune
24.5 x 88 inches
graphite on paper

19

百聞は一見にしかず

Hyakubun wa ikken ni Shikazu, 2011
A hundred stories heard do not match
the one glance
24.5 x 88 inches
graphite on paper

20

Midnight Skinny Dipping

The Moon Sparkle, 2009
2.75 x 7 inches
ink on paper

21

You Could Have Left Me to Drown, But You Saved Me
(But You Forgot Fishes Don’t Drown), 2009
10 x 9.5 inches
ink on paper

22

All the Ugliness In Me, 2008
6.75 x 3.5 inches
ink on paper

23

Why Hurry?, 2009
4.5 x 6.5 inches
ink on paper

24

Two Fishermen, 2009
6.5 x 4.25 inches
ink on paper

25

Outburst, 2009
9.5 x 7.25 inches
ink on paper

26

Emptiness, 2008
6.75 x 6.5 inches
ink on paper

27

Meant to Pop, 2009
5.75 x 6.25 inches
ink on paper

28



Pie Pie Please and
Sprinkle on Top, 2009
4.5 x 6.75 inches
ink on paper

30

The Sky in the Midnight
(Learning to Let Go), 2009
5 x 9.5 inches
ink on paper

31

Biography

Based in Galveston County, Texas, Mayuko Ono Gray is an artist working mainly in the medium of graphite
drawing. She was born in Gifu, Japan, where she was trained in traditional Japanese calligraphy in her early
childhood. During her later teenage years, she was also trained in classical western drawing.
After graduating from high school, she moved to the United States to study English and further her education in
art. In 2007, she earned her MFA in painting from the University of Houston. Currently she is the director of the
College of the Mainland Art Gallery in Texas City, TX, where she is also an adjunct professor of art.
Her works are represented by the Hooks-Epstein galleries in Houston, TX, and by the Galeria 910 in Oaxaca,
Mexico. Recent solo exhibitions include “Japanese Calligraphy My Way” at the Galveston Arts Center, and
“Following the Path” at the Mary Matteson-Parrish Art Gallery of Lone Star College-Montgomery.

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Thanks to
Jason Watson and LSC-Kingwood Media
Garrick Joubert, Edwin Brega & Dan Ko of LSC TV

Pamela Clark and Designs in Print
T.C. Robson for brochure design

LSC-Kingwood Fine Art Gallery

20000 Kingwood Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339-3801

Phone 281.312.1534
LoneStar.edu/Kingwood
Affirmative Action/EEO College