TURN Gallery is pleased to present in our Parlour Room LONGING FOR HOME with artist Mitsuyo Okada opening Wednesday January 15th from 6 - 8 pm. This is her first exhibition with TURN Gallery.


Mitsuyo Okada’s work conjures "the eternal atmosphere of nature," by mining real and imaginary experiences of familiar moments of her urban home and the divinity of the wilderness. Her painted settings evoke the details of encounters: light and shadow dancing, flowing breeze, a bouquet of scent, and seasonal temperatures. Okada looks to examine these sensations, drawing us back to sweet melancholic memories of intimate places or igniting a spark to explore new horizons.


Through reflections of city trees from outside her Ridgewood home window, imperial views of Japan’s sacred Mount Ishizuchi, salty shaded trees of Rockaway Beach, sun-filtered pathways or lush canopies of plant life from her adventures in Upstate New York and Japan, Okada’s oil paintings seduce us into both the known and a mystical world beyond our knowledge. Her interplay of vibrant pastels— apparent in verdant greens to salmon pink grounds with moody contrasts of dark browns and deep blues— captures the aura of each detail of scenery glowing with life. Often intentionally blurred, miniature figures reflect a shared sense of human vulnerability emphasizing experience over exact representation. There is a distinct metaphysical air to Okada's scenes. As the viewer's eye draws nearer, her figures seem to shrink further and the picture plane appears to expand as if warmingly enveloping her subjects before our eyes. Through these collective sensations, Okada invites the audience to inhale and exhale— connecting to a world, a home, regardless of one’s location.


Mitsuyo Okada (b.1994, Hiroshima Japan) received her MFA from Pratt Institute in 2019. She has exhibited in Seoul, Korea at 776 Gallery, as well as Tsutaya Books in Tokyo, Japan. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn.