Namiko

Artist: Shiori Chen

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Writer: Keira Sarmiento
Editor: Nathan Turnbeaugh

When 16-year-old junior Shiori Chen was carrying her new oil painting around campus, many classmates saw the portrait of a young woman as she passed by. They’d ask Chen, “Is that a painting of you?”

“I always thought that was the biggest compliment when people said I looked like my mom because I looked up to her so much,” Chen said. Her mother, Namiko, is the piece’s subject, and the first person Chen thinks of when asked who her “personal hero” is. The reference photo for the painting was from when Namiko was younger, which Chen said she chose because “she looked so happy and genuine” in the picture. In the painting, Namiko grins while holding chopsticks and a plate of uni, or Japanese sea urchin. This represents her mother’s career as a Japanese food blogger as well as her foodie side. “My family and her, part of our values is our love for food,” Chen said. 

When Chen went through the process of creating the piece, she was excited because she hadn’t had a chance to work with oil paints since she was in seventh grade watching Bob Ross tutorials. “It was really good getting back into that medium because I think it has a very polished look afterward,” Chen said. When she was deciding on the background, she decided against the one in the reference image because it didn’t match her mom’s uplifting personality. Instead, she opted for a light spring green. “That’s the message I wanted to convey about my mother,” Chen said.