A Minute With Emily Marchand & Satoko Okuno
Hi! This is a newsletter about artists I like.
I began acquiring art through some friends that worked in galleries. I started small, working on a limited budget, for stuff I could afford. As time passed, my collection grew, and it was exciting to watch many of the artists I'd collected go on to bigger shows and critical acclaim. My goal with this newsletter is to make a digestible resource for anyone interested in artists that are making great (and still affordable!) work, whom you haven't heard about... yet.
Like I’ve said in past posts, I am getting tired of myself so I reached to Emily Marchand as I am a huge fan of her work and noticed her posting about some other artists. She was kind enough to not only recommend a great artist but also conduct the interview. A great artist chatting with another great artist. Here ya go….
Please follow Emily as she is great and I am lucky enough to live with a couple of her ceramics that I love.
Can you give us a little background about your life, where you grew up, and what inspired you to move to LA?
SO: I am originally from Tokyo, Japan. I was born in 1991 in Yokohama, a city next to Tokyo, and spent most of my life in Tokyo. Three years ago, I moved to LA to attend ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, and I recently graduated. My journey to LA has been anything but conventional—I arrived at ArtCenter in the fall of 2021, following a bachelor’s degree in Law and an eight-year career in business in Tokyo. Despite pursuing a path in law and business, I always knew my true passion lay in art. It took me some time to realize that supporting artists through law and business was not enough—I needed to create art myself. Making art has been a pure, unyielding dream of mine since childhood. I decided to quit my job, even though I liked it, and prepared my portfolio to apply for art schools. I wanted to come to the US instead of attending a Japanese art school because I wanted to create art in a place where I could meet diverse people from all over the world. I chose LA because my husband decided to attend UCLA at the same time, so we moved together to pursue our studies. Now, we have two cats who are my biggest inspiration for my work.
How is your work connected to your personality and life experiences?
SO: My work centers around animals and creatures, depicting them as guardians. This theme of “guardianship” stems from both my personality and background. Personally, I have various fears—nyctophobia (fear of darkness), claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces), and phasmophobia (fear of ghosts). I can’t sleep alone with the lights off or be alone in a classroom, and I’ve never watched a horror movie. The scariest movie I’ve ever seen is The Mask from 1994, which is actually a comedy. Additionally, I have experienced other traumas. Because of these fears, I create art to make friends and guardians who protect me and make me feel safe.
Culturally, being born and raised in Japan, I grew up with guardian animal sculptures at Shinto shrines—dogs, lions, foxes, boars, wolves, and more. In Japanese Shintoism, it is believed that all things, from natural materials to animals and humans, have a spirit. These guardian sculptures bring safety and protect inhabitants. I reinterpret these historical guardian figures as central characters in my modern-day sanctuaries, providing solace and gentleness in a world often filled with life’s traumas. My creatures are my guardians, and I hope they can also become friends and protectors for others.
Can you talk about your relationship to painting and ceramics?
SO: My painting and ceramic works are connected yet distinct disciplines, both serving as my guardians. Sometimes, I create ceramic pieces based on my paintings and vice versa, resulting in 2D and 3D versions of my creatures. However, in many cases, they are separate works. My paintings often draw inspiration from real animals or mythological creatures found in ancient art, whereas my ceramic work tends to spring from my pure imagination. I feel that different parts of my brain are engaged when I'm painting versus when I'm working with ceramics. Despite their differences, both mediums are my language and interpretation, sharing the same visual lexicon. Thus, they are intrinsically connected as my guardians, protecting and guiding me through my artistic journey, even though they operate in somewhat distinct realms.
What are your thoughts on scale? How do you decide how big or small a piece should be?
SO: Regarding my paintings, although I work with a variety of sizes from 16” to 72”, I tend to prefer working on a larger scale. The bigger a painting is, the more physical the act of painting becomes. With larger canvases, I can use a variety of brushes and create a wider range of marks. This not only adds depth and complexity to the painting but also makes the process more enjoyable. Additionally, since I use thick oil sticks, I need a substantial surface to work with them. I often paint animals and creatures, aiming to depict them at their life size (or my imagined life size), which naturally requires a larger scale.
For my ceramic work, scale is also a significant consideration, though it is often influenced by the limitations of kiln size. However, I have learned techniques to create large pieces in multiple modules, allowing me to expand the scale of my ceramic creations. I am eager to continue exploring this approach to produce more substantial ceramic works. Both my paintings and ceramic pieces benefit from these explorations of scale, enhancing their presence and impact as guardians in my art.
Who are some of your favorite artists? What artist, living or dead, would you most like to show or work with?
SO: Some of my favorite artists are Philip Guston, Rose Wylie, and Tal R. From them, I have learned a great deal about composition, texture, color, and the spirit of experimentation. Copenhagen is one of my favorite cities, and collaborating with Tal R, a Copenhagen-based artist, would be a dream come true.
Here is my info:)
Website: satokookunostudio.com
Email: satokookunostudio@gmail.com
IG: @satoko_artwork
Past guest Adrienne Rubenstein has curated a killer show at Venus Over Manhattan and it opens tonight. More info HERE.
I have bought some great art and design books recently, if any past guests/artists need some inspiration, let me know and I will send some out on the house. More info on what we buy/sell : @goodstuffgoodstuff