Mary Mitsuda ‘Chawan with Blue Eye’ Ceramic 4.75″x 3″

“Mary Mitsuda has had her work featured at over 150 exhibitions locally and abroad since 1992, including The Contemporary Museum of Honolulu’s 1999 Biennial. It also is in such diverse collections as the Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Bank of Hawaii, Japan Airlines and Neiman Marcus.” Since then her art has also been exhibited in the Paia Contemporary Gallery on Maui, the First Hawaiian Center, Fishcake in Honolulu and at the gallery Mark’s Garage.

Within Mitsuda’s cozy contemporary home in Honolulu, which she shares with her artist husband Jesse Christensen, there is a studio bright with white walls. There are art pieces which include her large six-feet-tall abstract panel paintings mounted on the wall and Christensen’s sculptures of primitive masks made of wood and computer parts. We sat at a table in the middle of the studio.

“I kind of have this theory of art as a found object. When you see something on the street that captures your eye and you don’t know what it is at first,” Mitsuda explained. “Then you might wonder why it’s interesting. And you know that you’re approaching things from a personal and individual point of view. But, at the same time, you’re looking at how your perception is connected to everyone else’s.”