Developed first between 1975 and 1981, Kunié Sugiura’s Photo-paintings mark a pivotal moment in her exploration of photography’s relationship to painting and sculpture. Distinct from her earlier Photo-canvas works, in which photographic images were embedded directly onto sensitized canvas, the Photo-paintings bring together separate photographic and painted elements within a single construction.
The series emerged after Sugiura briefly abandoned photography to focus exclusively on painting. Unsatisfied with the limitations of a single medium, she discovered that placing one of her monochrome paintings beside an earlier photographic work created a compelling visual tension. Rather than merging photography and painting, she began treating them as equal yet independent components, juxtaposing black-and-white photographs with boldly colored monochrome panels.

Combining representational imagery with abstraction, the Photo-paintings challenge conventional distinctions between mediums. Their assembled structures often incorporate framing devices and wooden elements, giving the works a distinctly sculptural presence. Through intuitive pairings of photographic subjects and fields of color, Sugiura creates poetic and sometimes unexpected associations that resist straightforward interpretation.

Reflecting the artist’s broader interest in hybridity and duality, the Photo-paintings balance photography and painting, image and object, observation and abstraction. These works remain among the most innovative expressions of Sugiura’s lifelong effort to expand the possibilities of photographic art.

"Until I came to Chicago and New York, I did not realize there were so many religions in the world. I was especially struck by Christmas, which is such a serious and meaningful period.
The closest celebration for me is New Year in Japan, but that is seasonal rather than religious.
Here, many people seem to be waiting symbolically for the arrival of Christ, and there is so much preparation and hope for the future. It was something unfamiliar to me, but it was amazing to experience that atmosphere.

Christmas Lights is a kind of document about my neighborhood. There were, and still are, large apartment buildings, big parking areas, small parks with benches, and many trees decorated with strings of small lights. This became Christmas Lights (1978)." - Kunié Sugiura