Mayumi Oda

INSPIRED BY THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF HAWAII

Mayumi Oda's art showcases the spiritual side of life and the power of the Goddess...

MEET THE ARTIST - MAYUMI ODA

Mayumi Oda is one of Hawaii’s most treasured and well-known artists. Mayumi has presented more than 50 solo shows internationally and has numerous private and permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, the U.S. Library of Congress and more.

Mayumi's lifelong concern for the earth and her view of it as a source of healing and nourishment moved her to begin cultivating a farm on the Big Island of Hawaii. Born in Japan, for the past 20 years Mayumi has lived and worked in her home at Ginger Hill Farm in Kealakekua. In addition to her work as an artist, Mayumi co-founded Inochi.us (Life Force) under which she established the Plutonium Free Future chartered to educate Japan's nuclear policy makers. Her passion and dedication for this cause has led her to speak to the United Nations World Court of Justice in the Hague. Mayumi also was recognized for her commitment to a nuclear-free world over the past 25 years at the 2016 Bioneers Conference in Berkeley, CA.

Mayumi has done extensive work with female goddess imagery. Growing up in Tokyo, Mayumi studied fine art and traditional Japanese fabric dying. Mayumi’s unique apprenticeship dying fabric for kimonos influences the color and composition of her work.

To view our Mayumi Oda Collection, click here.

You can also learn more about Mayumi, her journey, and her art on her website.

Watch our video about Mayumi's inspiration for Heart Sutra

Watch our video featuring Mayumi Oda, the "Matisse of Japan"

I still rise early. Maybe even earlier. I meditate and practice yoga with my students. The land, the sky, the sun, the wind, the changing phases of the moon and the stars. Trees and vegetables growing. Fruits ripening. These are the things which shows me life force and inspires me to paint. I had my studio built with Ohia poles. From the large studio windows, I see taros growing and I feel the love and connection as if I were Papahanauuomoku and I am ever grateful for what Hawaii has taught me.

Mayumi Oda, quoted in “Merciful Sea: 45 Years of Serigraphs by Mayumi Oda (Robyn Buntin of Honolulu, 2012).

Introducing Heart Sutra with Turtle

For more than 40 years, Mayumi Oda has made it a practice when she can’t paint to copy out the heart sutra. In this print, she used an overlay technique to place a sea turtle (or honu) over the sutra, blending her practice with the love of her home in Hawaii. Styled as a classic coconut button Aloha shirt with a subtle reverse print.

Fabric & Construction

Cut and sewn in El Paso, Texas.
Original print, artisan printing technique; colors may vary.
Versatile Cowboy Cloth. So tough it scares wrinkles away; so soft you'll wake up still wearing it, remarkably unwrinkled.
Short Sleeve | Tailored fit | Coconut Buttons
Performance from sea to snow and beach to bar

Size

Heart Sutra with Ulu

In this print, she used an overlay technique to place the ulu (breadfruit) over the sutra, blending her practice with the love of her home in Hawaii. We used Mayumi's original artwork in creating this textile design, so if you look carefully enough you can even see the ink drops from her paintbrush in some places.

Fabric & Construction

Cut and sewn in El Paso, Texas.
Original print, artisan printing technique; colors may vary.
Versatile Cowboy Cloth. So tough it scares wrinkles away; so soft you'll wake up still wearing it, remarkably unwrinkled.
Long Sleeve | Tailored fit | Coconut Buttons
Performance from sea to snow and beach to bar

Size