Afternoon Artist Talks | One's Spirit Beyond the Portal (In-Person)

You don't have to identify as an artist to tap into the wellspring of creativity... The Community for Conscious Aging invites all to join us for a deeper exploration of The Jung Center's Gallery. We'll meet the artist behind our current exhibition, hear about their  journey and process, then have a chance to ask our own burning questions. 

Alongside refreshments, we welcome you to chat with long-time members of our creative community as well as encounter newcomers. For nearly 70 years, we've provided pathways for uncovering inspiration and deeper meaning in everyday life, we hope you'll join us for a fun afternoon of creativity and connection! 

In The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life, author Mark Nepo writes, "More than the push to achieve and produce great art, we are called to live a creative life. Just as we need oxygen to breathe, we need the creative flow to keep our heart alive. This is especially important as we age. To live a creative life sustains our inner health" 

While Nepo lifts up creative practice as nourishment for the human soul, growing longevity research also shows that visiting museums, art galleries, and viewing another's artwork can be just as vital for our aging bodies. These kinds of participation have been associated with lower rates of cognitive decline, including incidence of dementia, and even with longer lifespans. 

About this exhibition: One's Spirit Beyond the Portal explores the connection between human life, emotion, and nature that takes the viewer on a spiritual journey to another world. This collection of art depicts imaginary worlds in abstract landscapes through oil painting, watercolor and sculpture and invites the viewer to enter an inner realm of the mind, where they may find solace and strength while navigating life’s uncertain path. Click here to learn more!

The Artist Talks begins at 2:15pm, preceded and followed by an opportunity to snack and chat with creative community members

This creative initiative is brought to our audience by Community for Conscious Aging Steering Committee member and Co-founder of Women in the Visual and Literary Arts, Karleen Koen

While this event is free and open to the public, registration is strongly encouraged.

Motoko Yasue was raised and lived in the suburbs of Tokyo with her parents and her younger brother. In 2012 she moved to Houston to study painting at Glassell School of Art, Fine Arts Museum in Houston. She lost her father just beofre her graduate school.

After earning her AA degree in Studio Arts with the highest honor in Houston Commnity Collage, Motoko earned her MFA degree in Studio Arts at Houston Baptist University. Her art reflects her life in the U.S. through her unique Japanese perspective. Since her move to the U.S. from Tokyo, Japan, she has been passionately engaged in the study of art and painting, hoping to create the world on canvas as she sees it as well as the way she imagines it. After many years of experience in the corporate world, Art is her second career choice where she seeks different ways to convey the beauty of the world through streaming natural light coupled with the illumination of forms and gestures into figurative compositions. Motoko's work projects her exploration of colors and textures in her abstract landscapes.

They reflect both her Japanese cultural background, which distinctively embraces the beauty of nature with the four seasons, and the reflection of  the climate with strong sunlight during the summer with culturally diverse in Texas. Her art conveys who she is while they hopefully help the viewer see the world's beauty through another lens. Her current art practice explores painting and sculpture.