This painting came from a vision I had been having at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 of an infinity symbol. Initially, I kept seeing a white dragon seen from above, flying with its head catching its tail, making an 8 shape. Then rainbow-colored flames erupted from the symbol, creating what looked like a feather headdress. Almost a year later, the flames turned into petals of sunflowers, the type of flower that holds a special place in my heart. I finished the painting when it was very hot, just as the Golden Honey Bear Sunflower I planted from its seeds blossomed and then wilted in the extreme heat.

Shizuka Kusayanagi

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Shizuka Kusayanagi (b. 1982, Yokohama, Japan) is an artist, designer, and educator whose practice centers on painting, drawing, and text as forms of translation—exploring how personal and emotional experiences can be expressed beyond words. After more than 25 years living in New York and Los Angeles, she recently returned to Japan and now lives and works in Fukuoka. Working primarily in oil painting, Kusayanagi also works across drawing, printmaking, installation, photography, video, and text. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including a solo show at Signal Gallery in Fukuoka, Japan; DMST Atelier, Project Space, and la Beast Gallery in Los Angeles; Arario Gallery in New York; and in Dublin, Ireland. Recent exhibitions include All The (Healing) Parts (2024), Positive Exposure: Southern California Asian American Art (2023), and CHIMERA (2023). Kusayanagi was selected for the Fall 2023 IKEA Residency and shortlisted for the Spring 2023 Hopper Prize. Her IKEA residency experience was featured in The Los Angeles Times. Her short film was selected for the Motionpoems film catalog in association with the Poetry Foundation, and her drawings and installations have been featured in Graphic Magazine and Grafuck. She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design in New York.