Majestic murals at Worcester Art Museum

You won’t have to wait until you enter a gallery to get a pleasing taste of the "Samurai!" show on view at Worcester Art Museum through Sept. 6. The once-drab Lancaster Lobby is undergoing a transformation this week as a trio of noted artists paint murals inspired by the exhibition. Andrew Hem, Mari Inukai and Audrey Kawasaki began work on the murals Thursday and will finish up on Saturday. 

The artists, all based in Los Angeles, were connected to the mural project by pop-culture icon Eric Nakamura, co-founder of Giant Robot magazine and co-curator of the Samurai! show. It was Nakamura also who encouraged Leigh Zoto of Boston to come to WAM. Zoto was among a steady stream of visitors who came through the lobby to watch the murals in progress Thursday.

"I went and visited the Giant Robot store in Los Angeles because that's probably one of the most influential magazines I've read for art and pop culture," Zoto said. "We just got to talking and I mentioned I was from Boston and he said he was going to be setting up this show and that I should check it out."

A special treat, Zoto said, was being able to see some of her favorite artists in person, especially Kawasaki, who has a strong international fan base. "They're amazing," she said. "Andrew and Mari are actually newer in my scope, but she has been one of my favorite artists for a decade, so being able to see her working in real life is a pleasure."

The mural project is designed to give museum-goers a pleasant start to their visit right as they walk through the door. The murals will remain in the lobby for a year.

"When you come into the Lancaster lobby you should be greeted by art, and now we're doing that," Adam Reed Rozan, director of audience engagement at WAM, said. "There will be school children on their tours, there will be families, people on dates, and they're going to be coming in and greeted by artwork and that's amazing and that's why we felt we had to use this space, this giant canvas."

The project also fulfills a desire Rozan has held since coming to WAM from the Oakland Museum of California a few years ago. "That's one of the first things I saw when I came here, these huge beautiful walls that needed art," he said. "They screamed it."

The "Samurai!" exhibition features Japanese arms and armor recently acquired by WAM from the former Higgins Armory Museum. In a fresh take on a timeless topic, the historical artifacts are juxtaposed with contemporary art that connects with the samurai theme through a variety of mediums.

The three mural artists drew inspiration from the show, re-imagining age-old ideas in visually striking new ways. While Hem is known for his large-scale street art, this is the first time Inukai and Kawasaki have tried mural painting. For Inukai, who has had solo shows and also curated exhibitions at Giant Robot's GR2 Gallery, "Samurai!" represents her first museum show as well as her first mural, adding up to "really big pressure," she said.

You would never know that nervousness by looking at her delightful depictions, based in blue tones, of kid-friendly big-eyed characters covering the right-hand wall as you enter the lobby.  The images actually have an autobiographical aspect, she said. The translation of her last name into English is "dog keeper," hence a young woman leans lovingly toward a wolf-dog who has a fiercely protective gaze. Another image, inspired by the exhibition, is of a cat in a samurai helmet. “I thought if the cat wore the helmet it would be really cute,” she said.

Hem was handed the lobby's tallest wall and set about filling it, aided by a high-rising hydraulic lift, with a mural of cinematic scope. In the foreground, a female samurai stands ready to wield her sword. Behind her are images, like those seen in traditional Japanese woodcuts, of kimono-clad women representing her heritage.

"When I'm doing a piece, a whole story comes up into my mind," Hem said, riding his lift down to lobby level for a brief break. "So this story is about a female samurai, a wife who's wearing her husband's armor that died in the war. So she's wearing his armor in honor of him and going into battle herself."

Kawasaki's mural centers upon her signature subject: the face of a young woman whose compelling gaze defeats any effort to pull one’s eyes away. "It's not the facial expression but the eyes, the feeling you get about what that girl is telling you," Kawasaki said Thursday, while the mural was still in its formative stages. "I know the feeling I want but it's kind of 'How I will get there?' "

She was aiming for a complex, layered combination of emotions and traits. "I want her to be like a fierce one but still gentle and Zen-like," she said. "I want to distill that balance - calculated yet calm, fierce but elegant as well."

The girl's face is surrounded by magical birds, their wings spread in feathered flight, all done in Kawasaki's flowing, linear style that gracefully connects the various elements of a piece. It appeared to be working out beautifully, but Kawasaki admitted to having the blank-canvas jitters as she approached her first mural.

 "The first day I almost had like a panic attack just because I wasn't used to the wall, I wasn't used to the paint or this way of painting or working," she said.  "But now I'm enjoying it. I'm having a lot of fun. I'm not used to painting in front of people so I was like 'It makes me really nervous' but now I'm kind of like feeding off of it and making it a social thing."

Is Kawasaki's WAM mural experience the start of a new artistic chapter for her?

"Maybe," she said. "I already have another mural planned for June in Los Angeles, so we'll see how it goes."