Audrey Kawasaki, 1982 ~ The women on wood

Kawasaki's works are oil paintings painted directly onto wood panels, and her style has been described as a fusion of Art Nouveau and Japanese manga.
Kawasaki studied fine art painting for two years at the Pratt Institute in New York City, but left after two years without completing her degree. She cites the emphasis in the New York art scene on conceptual art, an approach at odds with her figurative, illustrative style, as among the reasons she left.

As of 2006, Kawasaki is considered a rising star in the Los Angeles art scene. In 2005, Kawasaki designed the cover art for Alice Smith's For Lovers, Dreamers & Me. In 2011, singer Christina Perri was tattooed with Kawasaki's painting, "My Dishonest Heart", by Kat Von D on an episode of LA Ink.

The themes in Audrey Kawasaki's work are contradictions within themselves. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Audrey's precise technical style is at once influenced by both manga comics and Art Nouveau. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing an unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter.