Barbara Takenaga

Shaker Blue

2004

Color lithograph, Edition 25 Barbara Takenaga is a painter who made her first lithograph at Shark's in the summer of 2002. Her abstract works are full of repeated, obsessive mark ...

Color lithograph with gold metallic powder, Edition 15. Barbara Takenaga writes: “About the prints, they’re part of a series of recent Angel paintings — which were influenced by seeing a small painting fragment of angel’s wings by Fra Angelico. I liked the way the feather pattern is similar to the Asian motif of fish scales or waves of water. There is a reference to the natural world, as well as the heavenly, but in an abstract, decorative approach. With the scale change of smaller elements in the center and larger dots on the edge, there is the implication of folded space that moves from near to distant — with some sensation of being pulled toward a far off place. The metallic background is dusted with gold or pearlescent powder over deep orange, which gives the surface some shimmer and color change. The title, Angel (Little Egypt), comes from the colors that are reminiscent of ancient Egyptian collars...

This square woodcut print on paper is composed of an abstract pattern of clustered silver blue shapes over a navy blue background that complements that subtle metallic sheen of the s...

I grew up in the United States and completed a BA in literature in Santa Barbara, CA, an MA in literature in Sydney, Australia, and a three-year printmaking diploma in London, where ...