As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a painter working in acrylic and oil on canvas. I paint portraits of people, mostly women. I paint the people who are in my life, and I enjoy looking at the range of human emotions that one carries in their expression. I am interested in my position as a contemporary female artist and what it means to be a woman painting another woman, thereby taking back ownership of the female nude which was historically painted by male artists. 

I use portraiture to explore the ongoing conflict of adhering to social norms across different social classes. I am interested in looking at the female body and how it navigates social spaces and the increasingly blurred boundaries between class and culture in contemporary society. I often place women in enclosed domestic settings. These rebellious and pleasure-seeking women enjoy each other’s camaraderie and intelligence. 

The environments that I create for my figures reference the ancient association between women and nature. Throughout history, there are endless examples of the male artist painting women to look like flowers, plants, and flowing rivers, and I love to play with this idea in my work. 

Voyage LA

Interview: Meet Barbara Ishikura

By Voyage LA

March 25th, 2024

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Ishikura.

Hi Barbara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a child. I graduated from MICA in Baltimore, where I studied sculpture. I took a long break from art when I raised my children, but I got serious about my work again later in life and returned to graduate school at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design to study painting. Now, I teach drawing at MassArt.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I love to hear about “mothering artists” now. We didn’t have this expression when I was raising children, and it was hard to find support. I think that support, discipline, and a belief in one’s work are the main pillars for becoming a successful artist. I had to work hard at finding all three. 

I am intrigued by notions of good and bad taste within social class. My adult life has been a hybrid of an unrefined upbringing and the privileged multicultural spaces that I occupy today. Navigating these two contrasting worlds, I am interested in the “choice” to like something of bad taste when it is against one’s better judgment. In my paintings, I juxtapose objects from high and low culture in an attempt to illuminate the cultural hierarchies we create. 

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I will have my first solo show at the FORMah Gallery in NYC. The opening reception is April 19th. The show runs April 17 through May 25th, 2024.

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