In the Valley of the Moon Painting

Hannah Faith Yata is half Japanese and was born and raised in a small town in Georgia. She grew up with a deep love of nature and animals passed down by the beautiful surroundings in the country and her mother. As a young adult, she studied feminism, psychology, and art in college. Graduating with a BFA in painting from the University of Georgia in 2012 she moved up to New York to focus on her work and how to put her ideas into paintings. In 2015, she was commissioned to do several works of art for musician B.o.B, which are now featured on his latest albums “Psycadelik Thoughtz” and the his "Elements" series. Now married to fellow artist, Jean Pierre Arboleda, the two painters work passionately to call attention to the darker themes of nature and industry. In her paintings, Yata seeks to interweave the parallels of the unconscious with the struggle of the natural environment and how it relates to views regarding the body of the woman and that of nature. Her use of masks express different types of emotion and characters while incorporating her fascination with other cultures and tribes. Body paint and designs play with a romantic idea of becoming more in touch with the earth and the life forces that dwell within, while also celebrating the feeling of energy and wildness. The surreal and psychedelic landscapes of her work erupt with tension and beauty, the grotesque and the wild to form exhilarating and mind altering dreamscapes.