Hanako O'Leary

“I am a craftswoman and a storyteller. I use hand made objects to tell a story because I believe it is through my hands that deepest secrets, oldest stories, and most latent potentials of my motherline are celebrated. Working primarily with clay, paper, fiber, and the visual language of my Japanese-American heritage, I create figurative work about feminine power.”

Hanako O’Leary is a craft based sculptor and installation artist. She was born and raised by her Japanese mother and American father in the American Midwest. She grew up speaking Japanese at home, but English in school and everywhere else. Until she turned 18, for 2 months during the summer, Hanako’s mother would send her and her two siblings on a yearly pilgrimage back to their maternal home in the Seto Inlet Sea of Japan. This deeply influenced her spiritual beliefs, artistic voice, and feminine ideals.

Building off this personal history, Hanako looks to Japanese folk traditions of the Setonaikai Islands as a basis for her artwork. Through hand made objects, installations, and storytelling, Hanako explores this relationship with her matriarchal lineage and the complexities of feminine love, sexuality, and power.

Her major artistic accomplishments include solo shows in galleries such as Method, Edmonds Community College, King Street Station, and most recently Frye art Museum and Gallery 4Culture. Major awards include the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture City Artist Grant, Bernie Funk Fellowship, Robert B. McMillen Grant, Neddy Award Finalist and Artist Trust Fellowship to name a few.