Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese born, New York illustrator who gave an entertaining and educational lecture in the Steinberg Auditorium at Washington University late Wednesday, February 18th. An illustrator with a love for saturated tones, texture, and dramatic figures, Yuko’s art has a complexity that is very intriguing. She once painted a ceramic rabbit with an intricate black and white pattern comprised of just dots. The bunny sold on Ebay for over a thousands dollars and the proceeds went to Save the Children Foundation. Other artworks she has done include: an evocative illustration for a sex story in New York Magazine where hundreds of couples were making love in the middle of a colorful Times Square, a chic aristocratic female lounging in ornate outfits for a Neiman Marcus advertisement, and an offbeat summer illustration of a wave rendered in a cable knit sweater pattern engulfing a swimmer as balls of yarn are tossed around for a Superphat magazine cover. Although her finished work  looks so polished, Yuko’s career path is almost as complicated as the patterns she creates.

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