Bio and Affiliation

Edwin Ushiro is an artist from Hawaii who is currently residing in southern California. He captures the essence of Hawaii, youth, and nostalgia in a technique that’s uniquely his own.

Edwin Ushiro’s work resonates with the echoes of his boyhood in the “slow town” of Wailuku on the Hawaiian island of Maui. In his paintings, he recalls the sun-struck days of youth, when the world was fresh and magical, but also explores the eerie folklore indigenous to dark country roads and the boundless depths of the childhood imagination. While structuring his work around the narrative tradition of “talk story” native to the Hawaiian islands, he interweaves the uncanny Obake tales of his Japanese heritage. Working in a unique mixed media technique which involves laboring in ink and acrylic over sheets of lucite printed with assemblages of his more traditional drawings and paintings, he creates reflections on the past that are luminous and nostalgic, like cherished memories burnished by the passage of time.

Edwin Ushiro

After earning a BFA with honors in illustration from the Art Center College of Design, he worked in the entertainment industry as a storyboard artist, concept designer, and visual consultant. More recently, he has exhibited in venues worldwide, including Villa Bottini in Italy, the Grand Palais in France, the Museum of Kyoto, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Japanese-American National Museum in Los Angeles. In 2016, Edwin created his first and second mural as a participant of Pow! Wow! Hawaii and Long Beach. A monograph of his artwork, entitled Gathering Whispers, has been published by Zero+ Publishing with an eastern edition published by Diagon Alley in Shanghai, China. He lives and works between Los Angeles and Maui.

Professional Accomplishments and Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2018
    • Graduation, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2017
    • A Survey: Drawings and Paintings of Strange Things, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2016
    • What Still Glimmers, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2015
    • The Study of Life as Things, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2014
    • Gathering Whispers, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2010
    • At Night, Lights Fell and Loved Ones Returned Home, Sloan Fine Art, New York, Ny
  • 2010
    • Preceding Sunday, Roq La Rue Gallery, Seattle, Wa
  • 2009
    • Softly Encompassing the Womb, LeBasse Projects, Culver City, Ca
  • 2008
    • While Tides Guide You Back Home, Project: Gallery, Culver City, Ca
  • 2007
    • The Cardboard Symphony, Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, Ca

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2023
    • Shifting Directions: Redefining Painting, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, Ca
  • 2021
    • Pow! Wow! the First Decade: From Hawaiʻi to The World, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hi
  • 2017
    • 4th Annual Exploring the New Contemporary Movement, Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, Hi
  • 2016
    • Silent Wonderment: Exploring the World of Giant Robot, Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
    • 3rd Annual Exploring the New Contemporary Movement, Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, Hi
  • 2015
    • Giant Robot Biennale IV, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2014
    • Hi Society, 7 Person Group Exhibition, the Honolulu Museum of Art, Spalding House, Honolulu, Hi
    • Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
    • Superawesome: Art and Giant Robot, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, Ca
  • 2013
    • Supernatural, 3 Person Group Exhibition, the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2012
    • Go with The Flow, Villa Bottini, Lucca, Italy
    • Giant Robot Biennale III, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2011
    • An Easy Give and Take: A Fundraiser for The Japanese Red Cross, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, Ca
    • Water Works: A Benefit for Unicef and Child Victims of The Earthquake in Japan, Gr2 Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca
    • Year of The Labbit, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
    • Art Paris Fair, Saatchi Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris, France
    • East West Connect, Above Second Gallery, Sai Wan, Hong Kong
  • 2010
    • Sugi Pop! Anime, Manga, Comics and Their Influence on Contemporary Art, Portsmouth Museum of Art, Portsmouth, Nh
  • 2009
    • Giant Robot Biennale II, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
    • Kokeshi from Folk Art to Art Toy, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
    • Illustrative Berlin, Villa Elisabeth, Berlin, Germany
    • Art Amsterdam Fair, Willem Kerseboom Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 2008
    • Amuse Art Jam, Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
    • Illustrative Zurich, Messehallen Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Installation 5 Scion Art Tour, Raleigh Penthouse, Miami, Fl
  • 2006
    • The Unicorn Show, Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, Ca

Publications

  • 2022
    • Sugidono, Chris, Inspiration from Above, the Maui News, Wailuku, Hi
    • Chu-Tachikawa, Art, Community and Entrepreneurship: How Edwin Ushiro Connected the Dots, Little Tokyo Service Center, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2021
    • Nemoto Jay, Kristen, in Our Community—Pow! Wow! Exhibit at Bishop Museum: Graffiti Art Makes History, the Hawai’i Herald, Honolulu, Hi
    • Hirahara, Naomi, Remember Cash Only: The Delicious Pull of Gardena, Air/light Magazine, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2020
    • Gutierrez, Jorge R., My Neighbor Hayao, Abrams, New York, Ny
    • Hamada, Jeff, Pow! Wow! Worldwide, Paragon Books, Berkeley, Ca
  • 2019
    • Breyer, Mieko, Nikkei Entrepreneur Spotlight: Artist Opens a Window on Life in Little Tokyo, Rafa Shimpo, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2018
    • Hokamas, Papercut, Long Beach, Ca
  • 2017
    • Luo, Ursula, Spray on The Walls: Urban Adventure of Graffiti Art, Sendpoints Publishing, Guangzhou, China
  • 2016
    • Williams, Austin, Inside Artists’ Sketchbooks, Drawing Magazine, Palm Coast, Fl
    • the Moleskine Project, Paragon Books, Berkeley, Ca
  • 2015
    • Cucu, Gathering Whispers (eastern Edition), Artist Monograph, Diagon Alley, Shanghai, China
  • 2014
    • Erlanson, Amanda, Gathering Whispers (western Edition), Artist Monograph, Zero Plus Publishing, Claremont, Ca
    • Xue, Mengyuan, Peter Pan for Grown Ups, Tian Man: Light Novel Magazine, Shanghai, China
    • Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty, Museum Publication, Los Angeles, Ca
  • 2013
    • Hong, Souris, Outside the Lines, Penguin Group, New York, Ny
  • 2011
    • Erlanson, Amanda, Heroes and Villains, Zero Plus Publishing, Claremont, Ca
  • 2010
    • Juxtapoz Erotica, Ginko Press, Berkeley, Ca
    • Owens, Annie, Ghost Stories: The Art of Edwin Ushiro, Hi Fructose Volume 2, Last Gasp, San Francisco, Ca
    • Neo York, Anime and Beyond, Idn, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
    • Ruano, Luis, Edwin Ushiro Preceding Sunday Exhibition, Hypebeast, Hong Kong, China
  • 2009
    • Three Apples, an Exhibition Celebrating 35 Years of Hello Kitty, Sanrio, Torrance, Ca
  • 2008
    • W+K Tokyo Lab Tokyo Ten, Wieden + Kennedy Tokyo Lab, Tokyo, Japan
    • New Artists, Objects the Journal of Applied Arts, Berlin, Germany
    • Drury Wagner, Kathryn, Painting a Nightmare, Honolulu Magazine, Honolulu, Hi

Clients and Employment History

New York Times

Sony

Insomniac Games

Warner Brothers

Disney

The Jim Henson Company

TBWA\Chiat\Day

Wieden + Kennedy

William Morris Endeavor

Macmillan

Simon and Schuster

Sanrio

Toyota

Mitsubishi

Gehry Partners, LLP

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen

Lady Gaga

Linkin’ Park

Residency

  • 2023    Artist-In-Residence, Green Box, Green Mountain Falls, Co
  • 2021    Artist-In-Residence, Camera Obscura Art Lab, Santa Monica, Ca