Mary Jo Matsumoto

I make realistic portraits that seek to convey the inner world, particularly the untold stories of women. My recent series of larger-than-life mixed media drawings are wistful encounters without traditional narrative, that hopefully contribute to a broader discourse on identity, representation, and the impact of consumer culture. My fascination with archetypes, mythology, and folktales speaks to the essential histories and traditions that are lost and the blank spaces created in this in-between identity. Influenced by a history of art that rarely portrays someone who looks like me, my work aims to encapsulate the shared experience of those who, like me, find themselves negotiating the delicate balance between an erased cultural heritage and the ever-evolving present.