Ohana was born and raised in Akita, Japan where there is an abundance of natural beauty. The beautiful wilderness of her hometown combined with one significant awakening experience greatly influenced her spirituality and aesthetic sense, both of which guided her to be a seeker and an artist.

One day when Ohana was fifteen years old she went for her regular morning stroll when suddenly the environment around her changed completely. Everything began to shine as if illuminated by brilliant light. Through the silence, she could hear nature speaking to her, imbuing her with its soulful sentience.

 Following that shocking day, Ohana spent days trying to figure out how she could share this experience with the rest of the world. Finally, one day, she realized that creating art was the answer. Ever since, Ohana has drawn inspiration from nature and her spirituality. At the same time, she became a dedicated seeker of Truth, which remains at the core of all her artistic expressions. From the inception of Ohana’s artistic journey the concept of Wabi-Sabi has served as a guiding light. Wabi-Sabi (rooted in Zen and the heart of Japanese culture) is most simply defined as incompleteness, imperfection, life in-the-moment, and spirituality beyond words, it is this essence that Ohana seeks to recreate with her paintings.

Although art took root early on in Ohana’s life, after moving to the United States in 1991, she took a break from art to focus on raising her family. During this hiatus, she had a second profound, spiritual experience— this one, a near-death experience—in which she became aware of a reality beyond the physical, aware of the existence of the transcendent Light that exists in and with all. This season deeply enriched Ohana’s spirituality and broadened her perspective on life, providing vital fodder for her art to grow.

Then, in 2015, Ohana’s circumstances allowed her to dedicate herself wholly to creating art—this time in the form of abstract painting.

For paintings on canvas and wood panels Ohana uses mixed media, while on paper she prefers traditional Japanese Sumi ink. Most of her paintings are intuitive, beginning with a meditative process and an empty mind as in Zen meditation. Subconsciously, layering is her primary technique - combining layers of thin paint, marks, drips, and planes of various colors; this technique also has its roots in Ohana’s study of traditional Japanese kimono-dyeing. In both her paintings and in traditional Japanese kimonos the multitude of layers creates an image and a feeling that words alone cannot express.

When she paints figures and objects, her approach is to express the essential truth that exists in them instead of copying the outward appearance of them; she creates marks and shapes that represent what she feels from the object. In her painting’s Ohana captures the moments in which her energy and soul are connected to the model, or objects directly. Each experience is a surprise, making it impossible for her to predict the final outcome. Now, after dedicating four and five years to the exploration of painting, Ohana is focused on building a significant body of work with contemporary Sumi-e (traditional Japanese charcoal ink painting).

Both the spiritual journey and the art-making journey are boundless. Ohana’s art-making seeks to share this never-ending journey with viewers through her spiritual experiences. Informed by these experiences, she hopes to create art that captures the true essence of all things—that there are no boundaries and that there is a Light ever-falling upon us .