Email: suharu@suharuogawa.com
Twitter: @suharuogawa
IG: @suharuogawa
Suharu Ogawa is a Toronto-based illustrator originally from Japan. Her love for drawing started in a kindergarten art school after being kicked out of calligraphy class for refusing to convert to right-handedness. Formally trained in Art History and Cultural Anthropology, she worked for several years as a university librarian until her passion for illustration called her out of that career and into the pursuit of a lifelong dream.
Since then, suharu has done various work for magazines, children’s books, public art projects, and more. She also teaches illustration as Assistant Professor at OCAD University.
Her name is pronounced as <su-ha-ru>, pretty much how it's spelled and named after Subaru (or Pleiades), an open star cluster in the constellation of Taurus, not after the car manufacturer, seriously.
Photography: Kenneth Chou
Clients
Avenue
BC Business
Boston Globe
Canadian Grocer
Canadian Tire
Captain Oats
CBC Arts
Chief Investment Officer
City of Toronto
Chirp Magazine
Chickadee Magazine
College of William and Mary
Cottage Life
Corporate Knights
Denison University
Fast Company
Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin
Indianapolis Monthly
Literary Review of Canada
Maisonneuve
MEC
Middlebury College
Minnesota Alumni Magazine
Nagoya University Press
NPR
NUVO
OCAD University
OPC Register Magazine
Ottawa Magazine
Owl Magazine
PLANADVISOR
PLANSPONSOR
Reader's Digest
Registered Nursing Journal
ROSCOE
Scientific American, Mind Magazine
Seattle Met Magazine
Sierra Club
Sinai Health Magazine
Swerve
Toronto Geometry Colloquium
UofT Med Magazine
UofT Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Vancouver Magazine
Washington Post
The Writer's Union of Canada
Children's Book
Cities: How Humans Live Together. Written by Megan Clendenan, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Orca Book Publishers, May 2023.
Good Food, Bad Waste: Let's Eat for the Planet. Written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Orca Book Publishers, April 2023.
We Are Many. Written by Dave Cameron, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Kids Can Press, October 2022.
Hooray for Trucks! Written by Susan Hughes, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Owl Kids, September 2022.
Why Humans Work. Written by Monique Polak, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Orca Book Publishers, May 2022.
Why Does My Shadow Follow Me? More Science Questions from Real Kids. Written by Kira Vermond, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Annick Press, 2021.
Why Don't Cars Run on Apple Juice?: Real Science Questions from Real Kids. Written by Kira Vermond, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Annick Press, 2019.
Opération Garde-Robe. Written by Julie Dugal, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Montreal, QC, Éditions Marchand de feuilles, 2017.
Awards
39th National Magazine Awards / Spot Illustration - Finalist
3×3 No.10
CMYK issue 53
Exhibitions
2017
Group: Still They Persist: Protest Art of the 2017 Women’s Marches. Wave Pool Gallery (Cincinnati, Ohio, May 13 - June 24)
& Lexington Art League (Lexington, Kentucky, July 28 - August 13), USA
Group: My Petite Bourgeois Revolution, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto
Group: Fix Up Look Sharp. Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto
2015
Group: Secret. Steam Whistle Brewing Gallery, Toronto
2014
Group: The Tokyo Art Book Fair, Tokyo, Japan
Group: Politics of Being Ugly. Norman Felix Gallery, Toronto
2013
Group: Clairvoyance. Creators’ Lounge, Toronto
Group: Semblance: Even Better Than The Real Thing. Bev Hisey Studio, Toronto
Group: Revive: Pop-up Art Show. Salonhaus, Toronto
Group: Retrospective. OCADU, Toronto
Group: Spirit Of Inquiry. Creators’ Lounge, Toronto
Group: Pillow Man. Propeller Center for the Visual Arts, Toronto
2012
Group: Neck of the Woods. Norman Felix Gallery, Toronto
Group: Guilt City. Norman Felix Gallery, Toronto
Group: Retrospective. OCAD University, Toronto
Group: CADSA Exhibition Exchange. Alberta College of Art and Design(Jan 29-Feb 4) &
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design(Mar 13-17), Canada
2011
Solo: Figures of Speech. Gallery109, Cal State University San Bernardino, California, USA