Meet Brent Nakamoto
Headshot of Brent Nakamoto, taken by Julie Kahlbaugh
We recently talked to artist Brent Nakamoto about what fuels his work and process as an artist.
We’ve worked with Brent for consulting projects and have sold his work at our former concept store, Small Mall.
Brent Nakamoto is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in painting and drawing, printmaking, photography, and book arts. He received his BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and MFA from the Sam Fox School of Art & Design at Washington University in St. Louis. He currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA, where he teaches at Carnegie Mellon University School of Art and is the Program and Marketing Coordinator for Brew House Association. His work is included in the University of Maryland Art Gallery permanent collection.
What is your artistic process like?
I work in a number of different ways. I like to think that throughout my life as an artist I've learned new ways to make things and that all of these become part of a tool chest that I can draw from when I'm making work. Most people in Pittsburgh probably know me best from my photorealist paintings, which are often based on found images. These paintings are made in a traditional style, on canvas or paper, but I'm often doubling, erasing, or masking images, in a way to create a sense of distance between the viewer and the image. In my solo exhibition last year I began experimenting with abstract, color field paintings, which are less detail-oriented but still rely on a slow and methodical process. My creative process is highly informed by my experience studying and practicing zen meditation, and many of my projects are an attempt to incorporate aspects of meditation into art-making. In November 9, 2016 (One Thousand Cranes), I made and photographed one thousand origami cranes as a way to process my experiences following the 2016 presidential election. My process is often about navigating contradictions. I can be very self-serious, but I also like to have fun. I'm currently learning ceramics and working on a series of t-shirts featuring my own calligraphy.
Where do you draw inspiration?
It's hard to say where I get inspiration from right now because I'm in a period where I'm trying to be really open to everything around me—I don't want to make art just about one thing. I do a lot of journaling, and the self-reflective process is a good way for me to see the ideas or conflicts that are taking up space in my mind, and which might be fruitful to approach in my art.
What is the purpose of the work you make?
Lately I've been thinking about art-making as a way to practice liberation. This is an idea that is informed by my zen practice, and there's no single answer for what that really means. Liberation means something different for everyone—and it means something for me every day. I'm always putting restrictions on myself about what kind of work I should or shouldn't be making, the kinds of images I can or can't use in my painting. I'm often trying to face these restrictions and use the creative process as a way to force myself out of them, to look at things in a new, more expansive way.
What is the most meaningful work you feel you’ve created so far?
Last year I was given the opportunity to curate Plain Silk, Uncarved Wood, featuring eight Asian-American artists in Pittsburgh, with the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. I hadn't previously been interested in curation, but I saw a need for greater visibility for these artists in what is still a largely white cultural space. Curating the show gave me the opportunity to get to know this community better. I learned so much from the artists involved, and it was so rewarding to see the support that the show received. As I'm becoming more comfortable in my own creative practice, it's becoming much more important for me to find ways to support the artists in my community as well.
What do you have coming up next?
In 2019, the University of Maryland Art Gallery bought my painting Donald Yamamoto, La Selva Beach, 1948, which is now on display in their recent acquisitions exhibition, through April 7, 2023. I don't have any other planned exhibitions, but I am very busy teaching in the School of Art at CMU and managing the Distillery Emerging Artist Residency at Brew House Association. I hope to have some more of my own studio time this summer.
How can our audience support you?
You can check out my website and follow me on Instagram where I post news and new work. Sometimes I have work available for sale online as well. You can also support me by supporting the artists I work with.