Project Description

Using an animation style, the artist depicts a multi-ethnic community that is colorful, active and vibrant while also acknowledging its geography of hilly terrain and historical landmarks.

Artist Statement

“Each morning, it is a common sight to see people gathering at the city’s parks to practice Tai-chi, so I used the central figure and a red and gold Chinese motif to symbolize the cultural image of the first city in the continental U.S. to have an Asian descent majority population. The historic landmarks of Heritage Park, Garvey Ranch Observatory and East L.A. College surround this portrait.”

About the Artist

EMI MOTOKAWA was born in Tokyo Japan and raised in Los Angeles where she began to fuse her Buddhist practice with visual art. Motokawa has exhibited at the Japanese American National Museum, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, and William Grant Still Community Center.

About Through the Eyes of Artists

In the tradition of celebrating transportation through colorful travel destination posters, Metro Art commissions a diverse range of Los Angeles artists to create original artworks for the Through the Eyes of Artists poster series. Established in 2003, the posters are displayed onboard Metro trains and buses.

View other works in the series.