The Art of Yasuo Araki is people. The images of Araki are imaginative, sure and simply stated.Traditional Japanese influences and North American or European folk art symbols combine to create an undulating line of life. Two-dimensional figures are seemingly woven into their environment and the perspective ranges from the microscopic to the cosmic. His studies are executed with a sureness that give them a nervous sponteneity and Yasuo Araki speaks to us through unaffected eyes.

Yasuo Araki was born in Yamanashi, Japan in 1939. He graduated from Musashino Art College, Tokyo in 1964, where he studied drawing, painting, graphic design and art history. From 1964 onward, Yasuo was employed in commercial advertising in Tokyo.

Yasuo immigrated to Canada in 1968 and has actively exhibited his work in Vancouver since 1970. From 1969 to 1972 Yasuo studied print making at the Vancouver College of Art. He was a founding member of the Century Art Group in 1975. He has held one man shows and participated in group shows all around the lower mainland of Vancouver, Japan and Seattle, Wa., USA. In 1995, Yasuo established the Pacific Rim Miniature Art Exhibition which is held annually.

Artist Statement:
When I was six, my family and I fled from the fell that rained down from the B-29 bombers. My war time experiences led me to peace-making efforts at a grass roots level. For me, this means communicating with people through my art. I use motifs such as stars, sun, and the moon because every living thing is part of the universe. Also I use music as a symbol of the good in human nature. If artists lead the way, then through their works, perhaps the goal can be reached. I dream of the day when we can usher in a new Renaissance, one that is filled with human vitality and is capable of enriching people's lives.

I would like to end with a quote by Mr. Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International, promoting peace around the world for the last 50 years: "Art is a flower, universal in its appeal, acts to open up people's lives and bring them closer together...Art is the light of humanity. The splendor of life itself is the source of creativity...Art is the mirror which reflects the era, the creation of great art causes civilization to flourish."