Orange County Fine Arts Showcase Gallery in South Coast Plaza Village will preview a new exhibition "Portraitures in Steam", featuring the paintings of Yoko Mazza and the photographic art of Steve Crise with the work of 18 Showcase artists including Laura Curtin and Hugo Rivera on Thursday, October 29.

“Portraitures in Steam” is the first collaboration of two artists in their respective mediums. Yoko Mazza is a painter and Steve Crise is a photographer. They share a love of the world of steam engine locomotion. Yoko very elegantly captures all the beauty, power, elegance, and romantic Victorian design sensibilities of these wonderful machines from the past in her richly detailed studies. Steve has documented the people that work on the railroad with a series of hard edge photographic studies capturing the personalities and lifestyles of these devoted individuals that keep the steam railroads operational against all odds.

Yoko Mazza creates her unique blend of eastern art training with western painting techniques. She was born in Hanyu City, a small town about 40 miles from Tokyo. She started exploring oil painting and Japanese calligraphy at the age of ten. When she came to the US she studied at the Art Students League of New York, Laguna College of Art & Design, and the San Francisco Art Institute.

Steve Crise is a native Southern Californian who grew up in the center of Los Angeles. He started taking pictures in the 5th grade with a borrowed camera from his parents. His first subjects besides his school mates were the local trains that ran near his home. He later went on to study graphic design and photography at LACC, and Transportation and Packaging design at the Art Center Los Angeles. He started his photographic career in 1979.

Steve and Yoko met in 2009 and were married in 2012. Among the many places they have traveled together was a small town in central Nevada named Ely, home to several operating steam locomotives on the Nevada Northern Railway. Yoko’s visit in 2011 and was the flashpoint that started her adventure with locomotives. 

Two other artists taking part in this show on portraiture are from the Laguna Canyon summer shows. Both are well known for their expression of color. One is meticulous and the other flamboyant.  Laura Curtin is a wildlife artist who uses delicate brushwork in painting her beloved "pink elephants" and other animals. Hugo Rivera describes his brightly-colored personal figurative art work as a fusion of his abstract world with traditional methods, where the colors play with the rhythm of forms and textures.

Joining these artists will be 18 of Showcase Gallery's juried artists, painters, sculptures, ceramists, and photographers expressing the chosen theme of "portraiture." 

Please come and visit the magnificent displays of artistic expression.