Audrey Kawasaki is an artist to watch. At 26, she has already emerged on the West coast art scene and is making her living as an artist. Her “girls” are mysterious and engaging. The focus is on the face…in the bedroom eyes and the pouty lips. It is very sensual work for such a shy girl. She doesn’t like to do interviews and in all the ones I have read, she describes herself as painfully shy and a “social weirdo.” In an interview with Chris Mitchell at Life Lounge, she says “on paper, or on canvas or wood, with a pencil and brush in hand, I can be as loud as I want! I am clear and explicit as ever. There is no fear, no shame, nothing to worry about. I am honest and blunt and direct, and loving it!”

I love Audrey’s combination of graphic images and soft faces on wood. I can’t take my eyes off her unusual work. As a process, Audrey sands down the surface and rounds the corners of the wood board, so it is smooth all around (very fitting). Then she draws directly on the board with pencil and seals the wood to start her oil painting process, leaving the wood grain pattern showing through on most paintings.