In these intricate and colorful works, Chie Fueki – who was born in Japan and raised in Brazil – interweaves her exposure to diverse customs with an outsider’s fascination toward American popular culture. Divining a subject archetypically American, Fueki explores the ceremonial, ritualistic, and seasonal occurrence of team sports. The superhuman status of players, the tribe mentality of spectators, the spiritual and mythological connotation of animal mascots, and the symbolic use of color and numbers are all made palpable within a disciplined structure that is itself reminiscent of the game.

The manner in which Fueki constructs a painting reveals her appreciation of the folk art, textiles, and patterning prevalent in other cultures’ visual arts. Each work is composed of paper collage, graphite rubbing, colored pencil, washes and beads of paint, creating a brocade-like skin that allows the image to be experienced through texture, surface, and color.

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