“EAGLE RAYS”: This mixed media work by Minako Ota is featured in “Our Inner Oceans: Paintings by Minako Ota,” on view through August 30 at the Princeton Public Library.

Paintings of marine creatures by award-winning Japanese painter Minako Ota are featured in in the exhibit “Our Inner Oceans: Paintings by Minako Ota,” on view at the Princeton Public Library through August 30.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Ota studied traditional Japanese painting at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Upon graduation, she attended Cambridge University in England where she focused on Western painting conservation. Since she left her native country some 30 years ago, she has submerged herself in Western cultures in the U.S. and Europe. Her artwork is a cultural hybrid between Japan and the West, as she combines western painting techniques that she learned through her 20-plus years as a professional painting conservator and the traditional Japanese aesthetics that she grew up with.

Ota started painting marine creatures in spring 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious threat in the U.S. People were being challenged not only in health and economic aspects, but many others such as social, political, racial, and spiritual as well. She started creating this series with the hope to inspire people to live more fully and joyously, no matter their circumstances.

“Life began in the oceans and we are still a part of this amazing living ecosystem, connected by this vast body of water,” said Ota.

The library is located at 65 Witherspoon Street. For more information on Ota, visit minako-art.com.