Chiyomi LONGO

Born: 1937 in Hyogo Prefecture


Medium: Mixed Media paintings on canvas, wood and paper



Chiyomi Longo painted as a young woman when living on Kauai. After a distinguished career raising a large family, and many years being a student of Cha-do Tea Ceremony, she returned to art school. Chiyomi earned BFA and MFA degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1995.

Of her paintings, Chiyomi says they 'represent my desire to communicate a bridging of opposites: my life experiences in my native Japan and my adoptive America. There is also a bridging between the rhythm of nature and the tempo of technology the inner spirit and outer form. My approach to painting is a melding of methods, past and present. In this body of work I have built layers of a variety of materials, techniques and forms to reflect the divergence of our culture. There is no preconceived pattern, for in content and style I paint as I live, my actions growing from some inner mysterious source. For me the freely shaped forms suggest the freedom of nature. The geometric patterns expose a skeletal structure, restating my desire to unite and equalize different influences.'


In her artwork Chiyomi has incorporated such themes as circles, Japanese kanji characters, and fluid strokes inspired by the flowing sounds of shakuhachi and other music. The palette is usually limited to earth tones, with a strong interplay of light and dark. Varied textures result from combining materials and techniques, so there is a subtle depth and richness to the nonrepresentational paintings. The viewer is drawn into the composition discovering power, serenity, and movement. In each work, we sense the skills of an accomplished artist joined with the strength and drive of a mature woman with an insatiable desire to look to the future in expressing herself. 


Exhibitions:


Cervini-Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ 

Sonoma Museum of Visual Arts, Santa Rosa
 

Ventura College, Ventura

Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Museo del Historico Regionale, Ensenada, Mexico


Wexler Gallery, Philadelphia

Sterling Winery, Calistoga
 

Quicksilver Mine Company, Forestville
Invitational at Pyong Teak Museum, Korea 

Dominican College, San Rafael--solo show

Lantern of the East--10th Annual International Invitational Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA

Sebastopol Center for the Arts, , CA
SFMOMA Artist Gallery San Francisco

Nagasaki Prefectural Museum, Japan

The Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay--solo show
One-Woman Retrospective Exhibit at Centro Estatal de las Artes, Ensenada Mexico in 2010.
Collections:


Oracle Corporation, Pleasanton, CA
Lamb & Lamb, Arlington, VA
Touchstone Productions, Hollywood
Kryolan Corporation, SF & Berlin
Kaiser Medical Center, Santa Rosa

Hashimoto Corp. Honolulu & Tokyo
Vinson & Elkins, Washington DC
Fernando Brun, Argentine Dep. Consul, LA