A Study in Contrast

About A Study in Contrast

This contemporary oil painting portrait is by Canadian Artist Tim Okamura.

Tim Okamura was drawn to using oil paints from an early age. He believes that the richness of oil comes closest to capturing the fine texture and quality of human skin. His unique visual language often combines the traditional realism of the old masters with the raw emotion of graffiti art. As a Japanese Canadian artist with biracial parents, Okamura grew up with a world view that embraced a diverse group of friends. He considers capturing the intimate stories of his subjects--people who are often underrepresented or misrepresented as a privilege, a ‘calling’. This stunning intimate portrait of a young dark haired woman is photographic- like in its realistic detail. Her hair is pulled back, her large dark eyes stare intensely at the viewer, her sculpted cheeks blush and her luscious red lips are closed. She is framed against a charcoal background that is crowned with a laurel of textured, gestural brushstrokes in white, pink and yellow hues. This is one of Okamura's signature inspired techniques--the liberal use of impasto; paint so thickly applied that it transforms the painting into a sculptural object adding visible texture and emotion. The depth of feeling conveyed by the artist in this portrait is palpable.

“We are all just human and we should get to know each other’s stories and experience each other’s culture. Overall for me the work has been so rewarding on so many different levels. It’s not important what people think of me. What is important is that the work exists in the world on its own. That’s my overriding motivation.” Tim Okamura

“My first encounter with Tim Okamura’s work was in a small, dimly lit gallery in a Brooklyn museum in 2012. The moderate relief from his art’s build-up of paint gave me the impression of a physical body in the space, and—startled—I turned on the lights. The subject in Okamura’s work was so present it seemed to have just finished exhaling.” Jessica Laney, Arts journalist, Writer, Poet

Tim Okamura was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He studied at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, where he earned his B.F.A. with Distinction. He continued his artistic studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York, graduating with an M.F.A. in Illustration as Visual Journalism in 1993 and took additional classes at the New York Academy of Art. Tim Okamura's painting career has attracted international attention and garnered him numerous awards. His artwork has graced the cover of Time magazine and has appeared in several motion pictures. In 2004, he was awarded the Fellowship in Painting from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
He was also selected nine times for the esteemed BP Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. In 2015, Okamura received a letter of commendation from then Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, in honor of his work addressing issues of social justice and criminal justice reform. He has exhibited throughout North America, Europe and Asia, in numerous museums such as The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The Brooklyn Museum, and August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Tim Okamura’s work can be found in both prestigious private collections and publicly in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The New York Historical Society Museum, The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, The Toronto Congress Center, and Standard Chartered Bank in London, England. Tim Okamura lives in New York City.