Hooks-Epstein Galleries presents the opening of Mayuko Ono Gray's "Don't Push the River"

Reflecting a life that is both culturally Japanese and American, Mayuko Ono Gray’s graphite drawings hybridize influences from traditional Japanese calligraphy combined with Western techniques, such as chiaroscuro and sfumato. Gray’s artistic practice uniquely follows the path of traditional Asian art-forms, which often integrate word and image. In her work, Gray uses images of people, animals, and still-lifes captured in her daily experiences; and more recently, she has begun incorporating bubbles throughout the image. The bubbles in her artwork represent energy emitted by atoms and also signify the soul or the spirit, which is encompassed by one’s physical form. Moreover, Gray assigns a matching Japanese proverb to go with the image, which is spelled out with hiragana and kanji characters intertwined to create a single strand. The beginning and end of this calligraphic line is a metaphor for life and death, with the middle representing the complicated path taken in between. The proverbs are short and poetic, yet powerful and true, confirming the perpetual nature of humanity and resonating timeless wisdom.

Mayuko Ono Gray earned a BFA in Painting in 2004 and a MFA in Painting in 2007 from the University of Houston. Most recently, her work has been featured nationally in solo exhibitions in Texas as well as the Visalia Art Center in 2023 (Visalia, CA), the Goggle Works Center for the Arts in 2022 (Reading, PA), and the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts in 2022 (Fond du Lac, WI). In addition, her work has been exhibited in various group shows throughout Texas and internationally in Japan, Italy, Greece, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Gray’s work was listed by the Beaumont Enterprise and Glasstire Texas, on each of their “Best-of 2022” lists for exhibitions in Texas. Gray was the Art Gallery Director at College of the Mainland Art Gallery from 2011-2022 and the Adjunct Professor of Art at College of the Mainland from 2008-2022 (Texas City, TX). She currently serves as an Instructor at the Glassell School of Art (Houston).