Motoko Baum Art Gallery

I was born and raised in Japan and immigrated to Canada at age 29. When I was growing up in Japan, the philosophy of Zen deeply influenced my cultural and artistic background.

It is a peaceful, gentle and harmonious way of life which I feel we can all benefit from (especially now). Imagine if we all learned and practiced the Zen way of life. Much violence, conflict and suffering in the world would diminish. I would like to make paintings that create calm, peaceful, and harmonious energy in people’s minds yet still intrigue their imagination.

One Zen art principle which we see in Japanese gardens and Ikebana flower arrangements is “less is more.” The composition and usage of colour in most of my paintings are based on the principle of seeing beauty in understatement. What I express in my paintings is not what I see but the essence of how I feel and what inspires me. My goal is to create art that people wish to have in their daily lives, and which brings them joy and happiness.

*The gallery is temporarily closed, Motoko is on sabbatical in 2024 and 2025