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Mayuko Ono Gray is a Houston Texas based artist whose main medium is graphite drawing. Born in Gifu Japan, she was trained in traditional Japanese calligraphy in her young childhood; later in her teenage she was trained in classical Western drawing.
After graduating from high school in Japan, she moved to the U.S. She earned her MFA in painting from the University of Houston main campus in 2007. Currently she works as adjunct professor of Art and the Art Gallery director for the College of the Mainland in Texas City, TX.
Her works are represented by Hooks-Epstein galleries in Houston TX and Galeria 910 in Oaxaca Mexico, and her works have been exhibited internationally in Tokyo Japan, Oaxaca Mexico, and Rome, Italy.
The Interview
At what point in your life did you know that you wanted to become an artist? Did the realization emerge slowly?
The realization came naturally since I was small that I always loved to draw. When I was in junior high school, I seriously considered becoming a comic book artist. I would stay up till nearly midnight to work on them and sent works to publishers for feedback. In high school, I decided to apply for art colleges and received a training in Western drawing using charcoal and graphite, focusing on techniques such as sfumato and chiaroscuro. I ended up coming to the U.S. after high school, starting out with ESL, then to college, finally earning the MFA in 2007.
How did you evolve your style and favorite mediums?
My style is hybrid of Western classical drawing and Japanese calligraphy. Growing up in Japan I attended Japanese calligraphy school every Saturdays since I was six years old. I never considered Japanese calligraphy as an artform but rather a training for good handwriting. At each session, the master would assign me a word to practice. I would try to imitate the sample by going through many rice papers- paying close attention to the varying line quality in each stroke. The observation skill is still in me, even though I work from photographs as a source now.
My serious encounter with graphite, which is my main media now, was at the Western drawing training. I remember the awe of using 4B pencil for the first time when I only knew existed was HB and B. I became obsessed with the effects graphite can achieve by various gradation scale, hatching, smearing, or coming back with kneaded eraser or hard eraser. And the possibility of going into the smallest details with finer mechanical pencils have absolutely served my OCO (Obsessive Compulsive Order).
What are your time management techniques? Do you have regular working hours...or favorite times to work?
I wake up at 4 am, grab a cup of coffee and get to my studio (another bedroom in the house). I had always been a night owl, drinking little more than I should. I got tired of feeling sluggish in the morning and all day- so I decided to change. I work for an hour or an hour and half, then take a break to eat or play with my cats and repeat. Audio books and podcasts are the must haves for me, that help me focus and gain new knowledge as I draw. I have over 200 books in my Audible account. I usually eat twice a day around 10 am and 3 pm. I quit work at 5 and hop on my treadmill and watch an episode of Netflix show as I walk- this is the only time I watch TV.
Do you work on more than one piece at a time, or primarily just on one?
I must concentrate on one piece at a time. But usually some ideas for next piece come to me, which leads me to focus on finishing the current one so I can get started with next one.
What would you say is your biggest influence--that which keeps you working, regardless of all else, your most steadfast motivation?
I have two influences that keep me working today. One is my grandfather's death and seeing his corpus in the casket. Second is my own experience of near death. Memento Mori is real- when you realize the impermanence of your physical existence, you start to see time and other priorities in life differently. My mission while I exist here is to push the possibility of drawing, graphite, to create something that can keep on inspiring viewers even after my own death.
Does trying something new and not knowing the rules -- the boundary pushing -- create anxiety or excitement in you? (Or both?)
New ideas are exciting and necessary, but I try to approach them slowly. I consider art practice as evolution- and evolution takes time.
Do you enjoy having the "duality of both chaos and control" or are you happiest with a set plan?
I do both. Working from photography gives me the definite anchor point or stability. I create cartoons for each work which saves me the time to figure out the positioning of subjects. Adding Japanese calligraphy is the chaos, I interweave the strokes with the image with gestural trial and error methods. This process is very chaotic, but afterwards I render meticulously and erase any of the traces.
Do you have any projects or events forthcoming?
I have few exhibitions coming up, but because of the covid situation the schedule is not certain. These opportunities are amazing and exciting, but I try to keep calm and keep on working in my studio consistently.
知らぬが花_Silence is the Flower
58" x 71" installed in 17 degrees angle
147 cm x 180 cm
Graphite on paper
2020-01 (1-18-20)
58" x 71" installed in 17 degrees angle
147 cm x 180 cm
Graphite on paper
2020-01 (1-18-20)
知らぬが花_Emily
41" x 58"
104 cm x 147 cm
Graphite on paper
2020-02 (2-17-20)
41" x 58"
104 cm x 147 cm
Graphite on paper
2020-02 (2-17-20)
かたちあるものいつかこわれる_41
90" x 83"
(90" x 41.5") x 2 sheets
228.6 cm x 210.8 cm
Graphite on paper
2020-4 (5-4-20)
90" x 83"
(90" x 41.5") x 2 sheets
228.6 cm x 210.8 cm
Graphite on paper
2020-4 (5-4-20)
目に入れてもいたくない_Cutie Pie
42" x 41"
(106 cm x 104 cm)
Graphite on paper
2020-5 (5-27-20)
42" x 41"
(106 cm x 104 cm)
Graphite on paper
2020-5 (5-27-20)
For further information about please contact Mayuko Ono Gray
Website: www.mayukoonogray.com
Email:
Instagram: mayuko_ono_gray
Website: www.mayukoonogray.com
Email:
Instagram: mayuko_ono_gray