Drawing Night & Day:

An Exhibition of New Works by Sleepless Kao & Lisa Cinar
At Visual Space May 22 – 24, 2014

Opening Reception
Thursday, May 22, 2014 6pm – 9pm

The exhibition premiers original paintings from Kao’s upcoming children’s book Emily and the Mighty Om . Featuring more than 40 works includes digital prints and limited edition silkscreen prints. This exhibition offers an opportunity to experience the world of childlike playfulness and kawaii (cute in Japanese).

“Little creatures pop out of my brain around midnight and tell me, “play with me”. They demand more room, so I put them onto large canvases. Other creatures do not stop moving, so I make a short animation of them.”

– Sleepless Kao

Read more about Exhibition

Opening reception at CHOTTO MOTTO:

なんとなんと、池田学くんが来てくれましたよ

展覧会オープニングはたくさんの人に来て頂き、たのしい時間を過ごすことができました

遠くにいて来て頂けなかった方も、応援メールや電話、ありがとうございました

Blimギャラリーで１２月２９日までやっていますので、近くにおいでの際はぜひ立ち寄ってみて下さい

CHOTTO MOTTO:

An Exhibition of New Works by Sleepless Kao At Blim, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Opening: Friday, December 2nd. 8:00pm -11:00pm
Show Runs December 2 – 29,  2011

Little creatures pop out of Kao’s brain around midnight and tell her, “more, more…”. They demand more room, so she puts them onto large canvases. Other creatures do not stop moving, so she makes a short animation of them. Come to BLIM to see Kao’s work

Enjoy chotto mottoholiday gifts by Kao, including prints, dolls, lucky-charms, and a little more

“A single chotto means little, but Japanese often say “chotto, chotto” which asks for someone’s attention, like “hey you!” Motto means more, and we often say “motto motto” meaning “yes, yes, more please”. If I was telling a story and I paused, you might say “motto motto”, asking me to continue with my story. Chotto motto together is an odd combination because they are opposites; I like the feeling of this odd pairing. There is a cultural difference between Japan and Canada which I still struggle with. Some aspects of traditional Japanese culture are passive-aggressive by Western standards, but they come from a pure/good intention. Japanese do not like to expose aggression, so we calmly speak in an indirect fashion. In relation to my show, I am saying in a polite way, “here I am, look what I have done”, but I am trying to be modest at the same time”

-from Interviewed by The Province

Cute to kill

Screening Sleepless Kao’s short animation at VIVO Media Arts Center, Vancouver, BC

Friday October 28 | 8 – 11 PM | $12/10 | @ VIVO (Main St. × 4th Ave.)

“Cutie no Yume” (cutie’s dream)   5min.18sec.

Everyone called her “Cutie”

She was sometimes stressed about being “Cutie”. She daydreamed to calm down at the end of the day

This describes Japanese girls very well. They often look very cute, polite, and harmless, but inside their bodies, they have as many passionate and evil thoughts as any norman person

The Concept of Kawaii:

Some people call my art kawaii; Japanese for ‘cute’.  I would have to agree, and I think cute things can be for all ages

Kawaii is a big subject. It is as meaningful as any contemporary concept. It is an outside shell, yet when done with precision and purity, contains Pure Love

Little creatures pop out of Kao’s brain around midnight. Recently, they demanded Kao to give them more room, so she put them up onto large canvases. Other creatures would not stop moving, so she made a short animation with them. Come to VIVO to see Kao’s work

Giant Robot

Sleepless Kao participated GR show

Year of the Rabbit Show, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA, 2011

Printed Matter 8, Giant Robot, New York, NY, 2010

Giant Robot Biennale 2, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 2009

GR Anniversary Show, Giant Robot, San Francisco, CA, 2009

Free to a Good Home, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA, 2009

Year of the OX Show, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA, 2009

Tree Show, Giant Robot, San Francisco, CA, 2008

Game Over, Giant Robot, San Francisco, CA, 2008

Year of the Rat Show, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA, 2008

About GR:
Giant Robot Store established in 2001 features art/Asian Pop Culture products

GR2 Gallery features art exhibitions by notable artists like Katsuya Terada, Luke Chueh, David Choe, Mari Inukai, Deth P Sun, Rob Sato, Ako Castuera, Sean Chao, Yoskay Yamamoto, Uglydoll, and countless others

Kinokuniya Design Competition:

I won the Kinokuniya Book Store U.S.  Gift Card Design Competition

Kao’s designer gift card is available at Kinokuniya store in the US

HELLA THANKS!! exhibition:
Friday, Oct. 7th 2011
The submitted art work is showing at Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA

紀伊国屋ブックストアのギフト券コンテストでウイニングを頂きました

アメリカにあるすべての紀伊国屋さんで購入可能です。私ももちろん自分のデザインしたギフトカードを使ってます笑

My First Book Launch

たくさんの人たちが来てくれて広い本屋は満場

とっても楽しい進水式を行うことができました

来てくれた皆さん、ほんとありがとう
来れなかった人たちもメールや電話ありがとう！

何年ぶりのともだちも子供を連れて来てくれたりと、驚きと感激

日本に帰るJALの飛行機の中で隣り合ったカナダの人も来てくれて、しかもそれが友達の友達だった！？

すごいなー、つながっていくなー。しかも自分の描いた本を通じて

わたしが日本人とかは子供たちには関係ないみたいで
つたない英語でもちゃんと聞き入ってくれてた

次作もがんばる　　：）

Ura Monchan

The exhibition, Sleepless Kao: Ura Monchan, which runs March 4 – 27, is held just ahead of the release of Kao’s first children’s book, Monchan’s Bag, published by Simply Read Books. Both Ura Monchan and Monchan’s Bag feature the character Monchan, created by Kao ten years ago as a kind of avatar. Monchan reflects the artist’s struggles of acceptance and sense of self as a landed immigrant in Canada. On the surface, Monchan is the epitome of calmness, but on the inside, Monchan faces emotional turmoil, just like the artist. As part of the residency, Kasai will also curate FLIM night on Friday, March 26, where Kao’s selection of films and new works produced during her residency at Blim will be presented

more about Sleepless @ Blim

Georgia Straight Newspaper

Ricepaper Magazine

By Land, Sea and Air:

A vancouver BC artist showcase at Compound Gallery, Portland, OR
Feb. 4th – Feb 28th 2010 | Reception: Feb 4th @ 7:00pm

グループ展のためオレゴンのポートランドまでやって来ました

バンクーバー出身のアーティスト６人展は雨にもかかわらず、大勢お客さんが来て大盛況

Faraway Closer

Video/Animation screening at Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver, BC

Introduction to Faraway Closer

 Faraway Closeris an animated video project sharing my experience of being an artist while living with my parents in Japan, feeling the nature around my hometown, reflecting on photos taken by my father who is a “semipro “photographer, and exploring some of my own paintings. My father and I use different media for our creations, but is there a theme we share? The making of this piece is like a first true communication between us after all these years of tension and faraway living

Story Narrative

 A father and daughter who resemble each otherbehave like odd twins when living together. Our love and respect for each other seems to be forgotten; we do not understand each other’s lifestyle nor the other person’s ways of thinking, so we always end up colliding/arguing. Gradually our love and hate relationship goes to the extreme as we can’t be in the same room breathing the same air

After a I go overseas to live, our relationship seems to keep its (healthy) balance, but at a distance; each of us becomes able to see the other more rationally, as two adults. Returning to live at home for an extended period brings up so much from the past that it is an intense time, and a clearer reflection of both of us, our relationship, emerges slowly. The images and narratives within Faraway Closer are a synthesis of this journey between the two of us, in search of a new language to understand each another’s creative lives and dreams