For the Record
Solo Exhibition of prints by Akemi Ohira.
Morin Gallery at the Arts Center in Orange
129 East Main Street, Orange, VA
Hours 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Mon. – Sat.
Exhibit Dates: 10/08 – 11/28, 2015
Opening Reception, 10/08/15, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

A Lecture on the Art of Printmaking (at the same location)
1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Saturday, 10/17, 2015

Akemi Ohira is an Associate Professor of Studio Art at the University of Virginia. She received her B.F.A. from Cornell University, and her M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. She joined the faculty of the McIntire Department of Art in the fall of 1993, and has since regularly taught introductory, intermediate and advanced printmaking, as well as directed projects for the Distinguished Majors Program. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S., as well as in Japan. “I am an artist who strives to illuminate and tease stereotypes, first impressions, preconceived notions and daily glitches that makes us pause, for more than a fraction of a second.”

“In my work, I try to engage the viewer directly, with the hope that they can disregard what they already know, in light of what they see and how they react to it. The titles I provide to individual pieces are meant as a provocation for expanding the visual expectation of the audience. I deconstruct and reconstruct forms, so the viewer can analyze the pieces presented in front of them as a new “idea”, thus encouraging them to deny the obvious. I invite my audience to decide the meaning of the piece by tapping into their own memories and experiences.”

Akemi Ohira Rollando
Associate Professor, Printmaking/Drawing
McIntire Department of Art