We are currently featuring some works of Mayumi Oda, an internationally recognized artist whose work embodies traditional Eastern iconography and bold Western influence.
Liberation is the theme of Mayumi Oda’s life, standing strong for the rights and liberation of women. This theme is carried over to her artwork.
Drawing her images from old Japanese woodblock prints, she transforms the traditional masculine Buddhist Gods into their joyous female counterparts.
Aphrodite
Size: 23”x32”
Date:1978
Edition #46/60
Published: Goddesses by Mayumi Oda, Page 44
How do I approach Aphrodite? I give myself golden skin and long black hair and I am Aphrodite herself. I let the Aegean Sea and the South Wind wash me to Cypress. All of us create our own legends.
Sappho said: “You may forget but let me tell you this. Someone in some future time will think of us. She knew that she was creating her own myth.”
Treasure Ship – Goddess of Earth
Size: 23”x32”
Date: 1976
Edition # 35/50
Published: Goddesses by Mayumi Oda, Page 22
When I see a plant or vegetable growing, I wonder where it comes from.
I am a gardener but I do not really garden. Nature is certainly so generous and fertile, she does the job for us. George Bernard Shaw once told Alan Chadwick, “If you want to encounter God, go to the garden.” to me, the image of the creator has to be female. Chinese Tao is the mother of the universe who embraces us all.
I named my house “Spirit of the Valley,” from the poem in the Tao Te Ching: “The spirit of the valley never dies. It is called the mysterious female, Gateway of the creating force. It flows continuously. Use will never drain it.”
Screen – Garden of Love
Size: 24”x36”each panel
Date: 1986
Edition: #40/50