Edwin Ushiro American, b. 1977

Edwin Ushiro is a Japanese American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. His work explores memory, childhood, and nostalgia through a practice that blends illustration and painting.

Originally from Maui, he draws inspiration from his childhood in Hawaï where the Hawaiian tradition of "talk story" meets the fantastical tales of Japanese folklore ("obake tales"). His technique combines ink and acrylic on lucite panels, printed with compositions that merge drawings and paintings. The result is works where images of the past emerge like memories—both vivid and altered by time.

A graduate in Illustration from Art Center College of Design, like his contemporary and friend Andrew Hem, Edwin Ushiro first worked in the entertainment industry as a storyboard artist, concept artist, and visual consultant before fully dedicating himself to his artistic practice. His work has been exhibited at Villa Bottini in Italy, the Kyoto Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. He has also contributed murals to the POW! WOW! festival in Hawaii and Long Beach. His work was the subject of a monograph, "Gathering Whispers," published in 2014 by Zero+ Publishing. Among his collaborations are Sony, Warner Bros, Disney, Mitsubishi, The New York Times, as well as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Lady Gaga, and Linkin Park.

Edwin Ushiro collaborates closely with GR2 Gallery in Los Angeles. In March 2025, Galerie CHENUS LONGHI presents his work for the first time in France as part of the exhibition "Between memory and Imaginary" at Château Lamazière in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, alongside Andrew Hem.

 

solo shows

2018 - Graduation, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2017 - A Survey: Drawings and Paintings of Strange Things, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2016 - What Still Glimmers, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2015 - The Study of Life as Things, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2014 - Gathering Whispers, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2010 - At Night, Lights Fell and Loved Ones Returned Home, Sloan Fine Art, New York (US)
2010 - Preceding Sunday, ROQ La Rue Gallery, Seattle (US)
2009 - Softly Encompassing the Womb, LeBasse Projects, Los Angeles (US)
2008 - While Tides Guide You Back Home, Project: Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2007 - The Cardboard Symphony, Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra (US)

 

GROUP exhibitions

2025 - GR in Tokyo: Giant Robot 30 Years", Mograg Gallery, Tokyo (JP)

2023 - Shifting Directions: Redefining Painting, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut (US)
2021 - Pow! Wow! The First Decade: From Hawaiʻi to the World, Bishop Museum, Honolulu (US)
2017 - 4th Annual Exploring the New Contemporary Movement, Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu (US)
2016 - Silent Wonderment: Exploring the World of Giant Robot, Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles (US)
2015 - Giant Robot Biennale IV, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (US)
2014 - Hi Society, 7-person group exhibition, Honolulu Museum of Art, Spalding House, Honolulu (US)
2013 - Supernatural, 3-person group exhibition, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (US)
2012 - Go with the Flow, Villa Bottini, Lucca, Italy
2011 - Water Works: A Benefit for UNICEF and Child Victims of the Earthquake in Japan, GR2 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2010 - Sugi Pop! Anime, Manga, Comics and Their Influence on Contemporary Art, Portsmouth Museum of Art, Portsmouth (US)

 

communautary projects and residencies

2023 - Artist-in-Residence, Green Box, Green Mountain Falls (US)
2021 - Artist-in-Residence, Camera Obscura Art Lab, Santa Monica (US)
2022 - Los Angeles Metro, We Are… Portraits of Metro Riders by Local Artists, Art displayed in Union Station + Metro Art Bus, Los Angeles (US)
2021 - Art Break: Ghosts! Workshop, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (US)
2020 - Pow! Wow! Hawaii, Public Mural Art Festival, Mural Artist, Kaka’ako, HI (US)
2019 - Sustainable Little Tokyo, Windows of Little Tokyo, Japanese Village Plaza, Los Angeles (US)
2016 - JANM Free Family Days: Pop Mania, Workshop, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (US)
2015 - Ghost Stories, Performer, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (US)