Small World Coffee’s Witherspoon Street café presents “Cats on Witherspoon,” the fourth solo exhibition by Princeton-based artist Minako Ota, known for her whimsical yet contemplative paintings of animals.
The exhibit is on view from Wednesday, December 3, through Tuesday, January 6, with an opening reception taking place Friday, December 5, from 6 to 8 p.m.
This holiday season, Ota brings together 34 cat paintings created over the past decade — an affectionate tribute to cats and cat lovers alike. The exhibition traces the artistic evolution of her style, from delicate early works to more playful and expressive recent pieces.
Ota was born in 1965 in Osaka, Japan, and studied traditional Japanese painting at Tama Art University in Tokyo. She then attended Cambridge University in England, focusing on western painting conservation. She has worked for museums including the Victoria and Albert in London and Art Institute of Chicago and restored paintings owned by the British Parliament and by the Queen of England, a Rubens, and a Monet.
Ota has lived in Princeton on and off since 1995.
Her current work harmonizes her Eastern and Western worlds, combining refined Japanese aesthetics with the techniques and textures of Western media, creating a unique visual language.
In an artist’s statement, Ota explains: “Since I left my native country some 30 years ago, I have submerged myself in western cultures in the U.S. and Europe. My artwork is a cultural hybrid between Japan and the West, as I combine western painting techniques that I learned through my 20+ years’ experiences as a painting conservator and traditional Japanese aesthetics that I grew up with.”
Cats on Witherspoon, Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. On view Wednesday, December 3, through Tuesday, January 6. Opening reception Friday, December 5, 6 to 8 p.m. www.smallworldcoffee.com.
More information on the artist: Email kafkacat13@gmail.com, follow ota.minako on Instagram, or visit www.minako-art.com.