Allyssa Ray Yamaguchi, born in 1991 and based in Maryland, is a contemporary oil painter known for her realistic figurative works on panels and canvas. Utilizing a reductive oil painting technique and a limited color palette, her art delves into how fantasy can offer deeper insights into reality. Through her work, she captures a delicate balance between imagination and the emotional nuances of human experience.

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Yamaguchi’s technique combines oil paint with odorless mineral spirits (OMS) to achieve a diluting effect, allowing for varied applications such as thin layers, pouring, and buffing. Her process emphasizes translucent, vibrant colors and expressive mark-making, creating a monochromatic world populated by neo-classical muses and contemporary figures. Her practice centers on a raw emotional connection, using perception, color, and reductive methods to communicate a sense of depth and introspection.

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Allyssa Yamaguchi holds a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art and a Graduate Certificate in Arts Management from American University, Washington, DC, awarded in May 2021. An accomplished artist and educator, she has exhibited widely and served as an Adjunct Instructor at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, and American University in Washington, DC.