MITSU OVERSTREET

photo credit: Christ Chavez

Desert Rinpa is a solo exhibition of paintings and mixed-media installation created for Mitsu Overstreet’s debut museum exhibition at the El Paso Museum of Art. Inspired by Regeneration, Overstreet’s first public art commission for the City of El Paso, the series reimagines the centuries-old Japanese Rinpa painting tradition through the plants of the Chihuahuan Desert, with agave, ocotillo, and yucca rendered in stylized, rhythmic form that echoes the desert’s resilience and abundance. Crafted with gold and silver leaf and mineral pigment alongside acrylic, textile, and projection, the works fuse traditional Rinpa materials with contemporary ones drawn from Overstreet’s public art practice. Exhibited February–June 2026 at the museum, Desert Rinpa offers viewers an immersive encounter with the desert as a site of beauty and cultural migration.