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.

In the belief systems of Buddhism, a sutra refers to a written work that is understood to accurately preserve important teachings of the respective faith and guide individuals on the path from ignorance and entrapment to liberation. Mayumi's art acts as its own sutra, projecting who she was at different stages of her life journey. When viewing one of her pieces, one can feel the significance held between strokes, as Mayumi melds her passion for both Buddhism and social activism into her work.

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.