Joan Shimabukuro’s instincts lead her toward what she describes as “coloring outside the lines." Spontaneity, intuition, and the desire to move beyond preconceived boundaries all play a role in her drawings. But having worked as a graphic designer, Shimabukuro combines her artistic freedom with a strong respect for precision, balance, and scale. Bridging the worlds of abstraction and representation, she employs color and line to create patterns and arcs of movement that have both a powerful physicality and a strong sense of balance.
The artist says she is always working toward a “compelling visual solution” in her work, and both the energy and focus involved in that process can be clearly seen. Working in oil pastels, pencils, and conte crayons, and occasionally turning them into digital prints, Shimabukuro gives each of her images a distinctive texture. Some are built from sharp lines and realistically rendered images, while, in others, dense strokes boldly and abstractly cross the work. However, all of Shimabukuro's works are united by her ability to make even the most abstract image come alive as a space that welcomes the viewer in.
Joan Shimabukuro was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and currently lives and works out of Astoria, NY.
