Born in Nagano, Japan in 1975, Susumu Kamijo lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He holds a BFA at the University of Oregon (2000) and an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Washington (2002). Influenced by Francis Bacon, Willem de Kooning, his poodles have attracted significant attention ever since they first appeared in 2014. The quick drying vinyl paint that Kamijo uses for his painting makes every painting––in his own words––“a quick resolution”. The technique of painting quickly to capture something that is authentic is one that Kamijo attributes to his experience of learning Japanese calligraphy as a young man. His own interest in creative writing has also lent a narrative “style” to his paintings that mimics the minimalism of a poem and the surprise of a short story. By mingling drawing and painting techniques, the artist has been able to create an assemblage of symbols and signs, often in ethereal and menacing strokes of color. In a playful meditative style, his work continues to evolve in a direction that surprises, provokes, and transforms our ways of seeing.