... “The San Francisco Bay Area is very much part of me and what I know,” Aoki explains, “and I love it here.” That love of place and sense of familiarity is at the heart of her paintings. In each canvas there is a sense of wonderment along with a willingness to ask questions about the aura and implications of each place. By poeticizing the atmosphere of places she loves, we are invited to share her enjoyment of them while quietly contemplating what they are now and what they may become in the future.

—John Seed, art writer