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Artist Exhibitions:
January 1994, Maruzen Art
Gallery, Foreign Artists of
Sapporo Group Show, Japan
October 1994, Mariya Craft
Gallery, NHK Bunka Center
Group Show, Japan
June 1995, Chokin Art Gallery,
Sapporo Citizens' Group Show,
Japan
April 1996, Mariya Craft
Gallery, NHK Bunka Center
Group Show, Japan
November 1998, Cafe Monet,
Solo Show, ...
Further Information
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Juana Almaguer
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Biography
Born and raised in Fresno, California, Juana Almaguer holds a B.A. degree in Counseling at California State University, Fresno. Although her original intent was to practice Family Counseling, her semester in England, touring of Europe, along with her six years in Japan offered Almaguer not only the time to explore her natural love for art but greatly influenced her decision to paint full-time.
While living in Sapporo, Japan she studied Chinese Ink Painting for 16 months at the Sapporo NHK Bunka (cultural) Center. The traditional and controlled form of Chinese Ink Painting had an important impact on Almaguer's art, as well as her development as an artist. Her art combines her training in Chinese Ink Painting with the rules of Western Art.
Juana Almaguer. relocated from Sapporo, Japan to Zacatecas, Mexico in 1997 to work on her art full-time. She has spent the last eight years overseas and plans to move back to her hometown by December 2000.
Artist's Statement
Chinese Ink painting instilled in me the importance of practicing the same brush strokes, in a particular order, time and time again. Through this discipline, I learned that the brush strokes become a part of me -- instinctual -- and the picture soon becomes itself with little effort, allowing creativity to lead. Thus, I believe that Creativity is born from discipline. The Artist’s Spirit is not made up of one moment, in and of itself, but a culmination of all moments prior. The hand works from memory: creativity is discipline in disguise. Following through on this idea of repetition, I have begun to work in series of four. I find I am better able to explore a painting by working it into a series.
My paintings focus primarily on the male figure. I give the viewer "a piece of the whole" in these paintings. Consequently, the negative space becomes just as fundamental to the drawing as the positive space is. In essence, I am painting the figure as much as I am creating the "unpainted" space on the paper. I use traditional Chinese Ink Painting materials: Chinese ink, rice paper, Chinese brushes, Chinese watercolors with the addition of gouache and western watercolors.
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