Femininity, Motherhood & The Natural World : Paintings by Anisa Asakawa
In this interview I chat with painter Anisa Asakawa, based in Portland. Having lived in Hawaii, Malaysia, and Wisconsin before moving to her current home in Oregon, Anisa expresses a deep appreciation for the natural world in every painting she creates. From vibrant landscapes to stunning figurative work, Anisa discusses the evolution of her creative process. Exploring themes of motherhood, femininity, and the serenity of nature, Anisa's paintings evoke a sense of gratitude and hope.
Hi Anisa! Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
I was born and raised in Hawaii, Malaysia and Wisconsin. My mother is a botanist and my father was a forester. The combination of Hawaii’s native culture and my parents’ interest in studying plants around the world instilled my reverence for Mother Nature. I was always a creative kid. My mom found an amazing art teacher who converted her whole house into a giant art studio for lessons. I remember going to her house every other weekend to explore ceramics, painting, printmaking and craft projects. It was wonderful. I was also that art kid in school who sold friendship bracelets, designed all the club t-shirts, and took all the art classes. I eventually went on to study fine art and graduated with a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009. After college I worked as a Display Coordinator for Anthropologie, a cake decorator and a store graphic artist for Whole Foods Market before pursuing my independent art career in 2016.
From scenic mountain paintings to figurative work, you often blend elements of landscape with portraiture. Can you tell me a bit about your process and where you find inspiration?
Mother Nature is my muse and always has been. The way I make art is simply how I see the world and how I imagine us in the world. We are part of a much greater ecosystem and I constantly want to remind myself and others of how we are one with nature. My process is very organic. I am inspired by a scene or a person or a feeling and I dive deep to bring that vision to life. I usually can’t sleep unless I get my ideas out there! I don’t know if it’s my art school training or the need to work quickly in my previous professional jobs, but I paint very, very fast and I enjoy that pace. Moving quickly in my process doesn’t let me second guess myself and allows for a more authentic expression.
Themes of motherhood and female empowerment can be found in your work. What led you to focus on these narratives, and what do you hope the viewer will take away from your work?
Female empowerment has been a theme in my work for a few years now. As a former ballet dancer and beauty queen, I really resent the ways our society objectifies and disrespects women. Now as a mother, I am even more emboldened to elevate the Divine Feminine and command the respect she deserves by creating images where my figures feel strong and powerful, not sexualized. I create art that reflects how I want to be seen in the world. I create images that I need to see: strong, empowered women and peaceful scenes of nature without humanity’s destruction.
You paint with bright, vivid colors, and many of your paintings are primed with a hot pink underpainting. How did you decide on your color palette, and what role does color play in your work?
Growing up in Hawaii has really influenced my sense of color. I LOVE COLOR. I can’t get enough of it. I paint the way I feel and that is very much reflected in my color choices. I enjoy bright colors or interesting color combinations because they are uplifting and energetic. I decided to use a hot pink underpainting in many of my pieces to add a layer of feminine energy to the canvas. In my landscapes, I enjoy the zings of hot pink peeking through the neutral landscape colors that give the piece more vibrancy and playfulness. For me, the hot pink represents Mother Nature’s ever-present spirit beneath the landscape or within each figure.
You mentioned that your work is shifting in a big way - can you tell me about the evolution of your work, and the transition you are currently experiencing?
My creative expression has always been in evolution. People who have known me since college have seen me create in nearly every single medium and scale. I’ve only been a “painter” for the last 4 years even though I studied traditional oil painting in college. I’m drawn to materials and the emotional experience of making art. For the last few years, painting has really checked all the boxes for me!
In this current pandemic crisis, I know that many of us are finding ways to cope with this new trauma. Coronavirus has brought up a lot of emotions for me as a mother of a 2yr old, a wife to an ER doctor working on the front lines, and as a daughter still grieving the loss of her father in 2018. The overwhelming emotions I feel for the world, our country, the many jobs lost, and all the deaths that will result from this pandemic have really catapulted me into a creative frenzy in order to process it all. I decided to commit to the #100dayproject as a way to explore my current themes of motherhood/Mother Nature during this time. I changed my process to allow for more cathartic expression by painting an abstract underpainting. This freedom gives me SO much peace. I love coming back to that abstract surface to explore how figures can emerge from the strokes by blocking in negative space. So far, it’s been thrilling to explore and I can’t wait to see how 100 explorations like this will change my work.
When did you join Instagram, and how has it impacted you as an artist?
I joined instagram as an artist in 2014, but didn’t really start posting regularly about what I was making till 2016 or so. Instagram is a special beast for me. I love it as a way to share my art with others and cheer on the artists I love, but I’ve definitely been down the black hole of being too swayed by the number of likes or followers I have or don’t have. Today, I use it as a visual studio journal for my collectors and fans to see what I’m up to and what I’m thinking about in the studio. Instagram has definitely been a blessing to me as an artist by connecting me with many opportunities, collectors and brands that I wouldn’t have otherwise been seen by. For that I’m incredibly grateful!
What does the future hold for your painting and creative endeavors?
Along with my #100dayproject which I’m currently posting on my Instagram @anisaasakawa , I have a big corporate mural commission coming up in May, and the LOCAL14 show in October here in Portland. I’d love to have a show for my #100dayproject artwork, but maybe it’ll have to be a virtual show this year :) I’ll definitely be launching this new work in the near future. I’m excited to keep exploring the parallels between Motherhood and Mother Nature in my paintings. These are themes that I feel so personally connected to and I hope my work will provide joy, peace and healing to others as well.