We’re starting a new weekly series here at VPEast and will feature our newest columnist Saki! She’ll be writing each week about artists who she adores and draws inspiration from and hopefully you can draw a little inspiration from her words as well. Check back every Wednesday for the Artist’s Spotlight!

A little less than a year ago, a friend mentioned the works of Yumiko Kayukawa, a modern pop artist. My friend knew I was a fan of tokidoki, and described her works as “tokidoki for grown-ups,” knowing it would appeal to me. As I often do, I googled Kayukawa, and found her website: sweetyumiko.com. From the opening screen, I could tell I was going to like her style, but I was very committed to learning more about her and her art style. What I learned was that Yumiko Kayukawa, was born in Naie in Hokkaido, Japan. According to her about page, she recollects making art since she was about 2 years old; and though you’d expect she was developing her style ever since, it seems she was struggling to express herself in her works. It wasn’t until she made a trip to Seattle, Washington that Yumiko found her style. A friend of hers requested that she paint something for her, and it was then that she mended both her Japanese culture with the giddy American culture she loved and appreciated through music and pop culture.

At 16 years old, she debuted her work in a popular manga, The Marguerite, and again at 18 years old. At such a young age, she was already accomplishing more than the average teen. After her graduation from art school she continued to illustrate for various projects until she booked her first gallery exhibit at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle. Since then, Yumiko has participated in countless group shows and solo exhibits around the world.

On July 11th, Yumiko revealed her latest solo show, God from the East, at the Joshua Liner Gallery located in New York City. Since the gallery is near me, I attended the opening to experience first-hand what many have regarded as candy-bright pop art. Her works do in fact have a harmonious balance between both the Japanese and American cultures Yumiko is familiar with. You’ll find that each canvas not only has a stunning young Japanese female subject, but she ties in some form of nature and adorns the pieces with Kanji text.  Color is something Yumiko is fluent in. Not a single piece fell short of the candy-coated colors and she masters them beautifully. No color is too over-powering of the rest, and even when she works with darker colors, she still manages to add light-heartedness to her pieces.

What impressed me most, were her clean lines. Though many fans approached Yumiko throughout the night, I was able to talk to her for a while and I flat-out asked the inappropriate question some were too afraid to ask, did she paint the pieces or were they digital prints on canvas? If you’ve seen her work up close, you understand why I asked the question. Turns out, she found it kind of flattering, but using acrylic paints she produced each and every canvas by hand. When I asked her about some of the extra fine lines, most noticeable on the animal subjects, she stated she uses a fine pen to add those details.

According to an interview in CrownDozen in 2004, Yumiko has sold every piece she has produced. Seeing the works in person last week, I totally understand why. Yumiko is an incredibly talented artist. Her works are fun and spunky, and display impeccable brush strokes. If that weren’t enough, the artist herself is a very friendly human being. If you’re in New York City, I recommend you see for yourself what I’m referring to by viewing her works at the Joshua Liner Gallery. If you’d like to see more of Yumiko, take a look at her website sweetyumiko.com. Her works are a sweet treat to the eyes.

Saki is the editor and owner of iheartcoolstuff.com where she writes about all that she loves.