“ROSE FISH”: This mixed media work by Japanese artist Minako Ota is featured in an upcoming exhibition of her marine creatures and other nature paintings at Small World Coffee on Witherspoon Street. It will be on view January 6 through February 2, 2021.

Marine creatures and other nature paintings by an award-winning Japanese painter Minako Ota will be on display and open to the public at Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, January 6 through February 2, 2021. It is her second show at Small World Coffee.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Ota studied traditional Japanese painting at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Upon graduation, she attended Cambridge University in England, where she focused on Western painting conservation. 

Since she left her native country some 30 years ago, Ota has submerged herself in Western cultures in the U.S. and Europe. Her artwork is a cultural hybrid between Japan and the West, as she combines Western painting techniques that she learned through her 20+ years as a professional painting conservator and the traditional Japanese aesthetics that she grew up with.

Ota started painting marine creatures in spring 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious threat in the U.S. People were being challenged, not only in health and economic aspects, but many others as well such as social, political, racial, and spiritual. She started creating this series with the hope to inspire people to live more fully and joyously, no matter their circumstances. “Life began in the oceans and we are still a part of this amazing living ecosystem, connected by this vast body of water,” she said.

More information on Minako Ota can be found at minako-art.com.