Paul Nagano’s paintings, primarily watercolors, have been inspired by the natural beauty of the landscapes he discovered through his travels. Born in Honolulu, Nagano is a graduate of Columbia University and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. A traveling scholarship in 1967 launched him on a painting career that now allows him to divide his time between Honolulu, Boston, and Bali, Indonesia. His style has been influenced by post-Impressionism and a method of Japanese watercolor painting known as Nanga, which he used to paint naturalistic landscapes in various parts of the world including France, Italy, Crete, Yugoslavia, and Madeira Island.
 

In 1984 Nagano went to Bali for the first time and has returned annually for 25 years. For many years his watercolors captured the colors, textures, and atmosphere of the lush tropical landscape. Then in 1997 he began to move away from purely representational landscapes to focus on a more introspective, interpretive approach to his Bali surroundings. He developed a unique style which he named symBALIsm, a style which went beyond the obvious to penetrate more deeply into the connections among the nature, spirit, and culture of the island and its people. These paintings are colorful, multi-layered, ethereal “dreamscapes,” complex scenes which invite interpretation and stimulate the imagination.
 

Nagano’s work has been in numerous group and solo exhibitions and is collected by major museums. This exhibition is a retrospective of the artist’s work.