Masami Teraoka Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

"Wave Series/Tattooed Woman at Sunset Beach" is a unique watercolor utilizing Edo-period imagery by contemporary, Japanese artist, Masami Teraoka. The framed artwork measures 22 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 1 in. This work is an example of Teraoka's icon of cross-cultural exchange as a submersible yet insuppressible individual, striking out on her own with rented snorkel equipment. Her traditional wave-pattern tattoos and resemblance to a Hokusai pearl diver are time-honored devices recognizable from Edo-era ukiyo-e, but here they are the mark of a very up-to-date woman of the world-and a sign of things to come. "In my mind tattoos were taboo, because we associated tattoos with yakuza gangsters in Japan then," the artist explains. "Those were the only people in Japan who had tattoos, to show off their machismo. So when I saw tattoos in this country, it seemed to me to be a really significant attitude that Americans are not really uptight about having tattoos. Thirty years later, tattoos are invading Japan. Young people have them on their arms, so they can cover them with long­sleeved shirts. Perhaps they try to hide them from their parents, but the younger generation is much more open to tattoos and piercings." Born in Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, Teraoka studied at what is now Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. His works are inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcut prints. However, Teraoaka infuses the style and techniques of the traditional art with American Pop Art. The mass-produced nature of Japanese woodcut prints...

"McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan" is a delightfully inventive comic self-portrait by the creative genius Masami Teraoka. He has presented himself dressed in the traditional kimono robe and the artwork is in the famous Ukiyo-e style. Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica and sometimes humorous characters. The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as "picture[s] of the floating world". This delightful watercolor self-portrait, comments on the problematic relationship between the United States and Japan and the Americanization of his country in the work, utilizing subtle pun humor that is the hallmark of Japanese culture. As Teraoka explains, "the character 'maku; means spread, 'donald; means screaming, 'do' and 'han' mean often, and 'Han' also means obnoxious or annoying. 'Burger' sounds like 'Baka' which means stupidity." This work was originally purchased by filmmaker Eric Saarinen...