John Cederquist

Wed., Mar 23 2011 at 12:00AM

"Furniture" isn't quite the right word for the woodwork of John Cederquist, who's based in Capistrano, California. Perched on the Pacific Rim, he's got his eyes eastward, specifically looking to Japan. A boomer born in 1946, Cederquist is infatuated with the imagery of World War II, too: We see Japanese flags, naval vessels, and military aircraft emblazoned with the red rising sun. These images often appear as if on printed kimono fabric, but the material is actually birch--nothing you could wear. Some flat kimonos front cabinets. Other works in Master of Deception similarly play with dimensionality and depth, like a trompe l'oeil picture frame that seems to have been pulled apart and reassembled on the wall. Cartoons and Pop Art mix with the tradition of Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Cederquist is very much an East-West fusion artist, a quality brought home by a series of seafood trays--representations of meals that, like Warhol's soup cans, you can't eat. BRIAN MILLER