Yookan Westfield (Nishida)

UP COMING Exhibition
SOLO EXHIBITION, Prince Street Gallery, Chelsea,
Power of the Chaos and Cosmos
"Yellow Sky (Brooklyn)": Oil Paintings
Nov.27- Dec.29, 2007 (Reception Nov.29)

The Prince Street Gallery in Chelsea is pleased to announce Power of the Chaos and Cosmos, "Yellow Sky (Brooklyn)": Oil Paintings, by Japanese painter Yookan Westfield. Westfield lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. This is her first solo exhibition in the United States.

In Yookan Westfield's work, yellow hues in contrast with violet tones give rise to a melancholic feeling of crestive power from the supernatural like in "Yellow Sky (Brooklyn)". She likes to think about the various forms of life on earth and about her existence. What is she? Why is she here?

The source comes from her birth place in a small westerly Japanese seaside town where there are many fortune-tellers. They have a unique power from nature. Westfield's great grandfather was a Japanese carpenter in the Meiji period. He used special techniques to make houses, temples, and shrines using joint only- no nails or glue. As a part of his building practice, he used a compass to guide his placement of buildings and rooms within the structures. Each direction has a different value or force that either brings good fortune or adversity.
Fortune is explained as a natural power of communication with the universe; the universe holds "power in the chaos and cosmos" and earth is the basis of nature.

The power of the chaos and cosmos and the supernatural provide inspiration on her canvas. It has been her wish to relate these mysteries of experience to her work.

Yookan Westfield was born in Nanao-City, Japan and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. She earned a NFA from Kanazawa Art University and an MFA from Musashino Art University in Tokyo. She recently graduated from the New York Studio School. Westfield received the Dokuritsu Prize in Dokuritsu Exhibition at the Tokyo Metoropolitan Museum of Art, Japan in 1997 and 1998. She has held six solo shows at the Ginza Surugadai Gallery, Tokyo since 1984. Westfield has exhibited her work in Japan since 1981 and the United States since 2004. Her work has been exhibited at venues including: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Saitama Modern Art Museum and others in Japan.
In New York, she is a featured member artist of the Prince Street Gallery. She has participated in the gallery member's group shows since 2005. Her work is represented in the government collection of Nanao-City, Japan.

Yookan Westfield (Nishida)

Live in Brooklyn, NY

A member artist of the Prince Street Gallery, Chelsea, NY

Up Coming Exhibitions
Nov.20-Dec.29, 2007 Solo Show(Prince Street Gallery)
Oct.16-31, 2007 Dokuritsu Exhibition, artist &juror,(New National Museum, Tokyo)

Exhibitions
1984-1995 Six solo shows (Ginza Surugadai Gallery, Tokyo)
1980-2006 Dokuritsu Exhibition (Tokyo Art Museum), member & juror
and others.

Education
2004-2007 New York Studio School
1980 MA Musashino Art University,Tokyo