KINUKO IMAI HOFFMAN

Gerald Bland is pleased to feature work by artist Kinuko Imai Hoffman, a collection of acrylic with mixed media on canvas as well as works on paper.

Artist’s statement:

“My work explores my personal interpretations of daily life through harmonious mixed media assemblages, inviting the viewer to absorb both the complexity and the clarity of my vision.  I construct my paintings in a unified manner to ensure that a strong theme is recognized on the canvas — a method developed through my previous training as a traditional Chinese brush painter.  My art is a blend of layering bold colored undertones to create a landscape of depth and contrast with a limited palette.  The additional assemblage of raw materials in my works (wood, canvas cloth, paper, pumice, and twine) further transforms a final piece into a symbolic collage expressing the constant movement of people and currency in today’s times. Combining these materials with explorations of various color and composition harmonies transports the viewer into a meditative state where balance, drama, and clarity unite.”

Kinuko Imai Hoffman is from a family of architects and artists. After college, she lived in numerous countries across Asia and studied traditional Chinese brush painting for the following fifteen years. Initially, she trained in the painting style typical of the Song Dynasty with Chinese brush painting Master Jan Ibin from Beijing, China, who awarded her with an honorary emblem of the Jan Ibin School, a rare gift of recognition and prestige. Later, she worked on a freer abstract technique of Chinese southern style with Master Ian Chung.

In 2003, Kinuko moved to New York where she attended the National Academy School of Fine Arts and explored Western style painting in still life and landscape. During that time, she received numerous awards and merit scholarships. In 2009, Kinuko joined the Art Students League of New York and developed strength in mixed media with Bruce Dorfman.

Today her works are executed using acrylic with limited palettes, developing her own signature abstract painting style in which traditional Chinese painting techniques blend with more abstract overtones.

Her works have been exhibited at the Viridian Artist Gallery, First Street Gallery in Chelsea, New York, the 3rd Annual Small Works Exhibition at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office Gallery, the JETAANY Artist Showcase and Fundraiser in New York to benefit reconstruction efforts in Japan, Small Works Group Exhibition at 440 Gallery and 4 Person Group Exhibition at Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn, New York and among others. Kinuko currently works and resides in New York City, NY.