Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada (born August 2, 1944) is a Japanese
textile artist
Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.
Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials u ...
, curator, art historian, scholar, professor, and author. She has received international recognition for her scholarship and expertise in the field of textile art. In 2010, she was named a "Distinguished Craft Educator - Master of Medium" by the James Renwick Alliance of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, who stated: "she is single-handedly responsible for introducing the art of Japanese to this country".
In 2016 she received the George Hewitt Myers Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Early life and education
Wada is the granddaughter of a family of
kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...
makers in Tokyo, and she was raised in
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
and Tokyo. Her paternal grandmother studied European dressmaking in Europe and encouraged her granddaughter through her love and knowledge of European art.
After graduating from Hyogo Kenritsu Kobe High School in 1963, Wada studied textile art and museum sciences at
Kyoto City University of Arts
is a public, municipal university of general art and music in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1880, it is Japan's oldest university of the arts (the predecessor of Tokyo University of the Arts was founded in 1887). Among its faculty and graduates ...
(BFA 1967). She moved to the United States, and received a degree from the
University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...
(MFA 1971).
Wada returned to Japan for postgraduate studies of
ikat
''Ikat'' (in Indonesian languages means "bind") is a dyeing technique originating from Indonesia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric.
In ''ikat'', the resist is formed by bi ...
weaving and
indigo
Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
dyeing with Tsuguo ODANI, Kyoto, in 1972 and traditional Japanese silk embroidery at Daihiko Studio, Tokyo, 1980 to 1981. She lived in Kyoto under the
Japan Foundation
The was established in 1972 by an Act of the National Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture, and became an Independent Administrative Institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry o ...
fellowship to conduct research on in Kyoto and Arimatsu Narumi in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
. During this period she began to specialize in the study of traditional Japanese crafts.
Works
Her Japanese background, education and early experience are the basis for the techniques she uses for her artwork, while she gets her inspiration from global cultures, with which she has had extensive contact in her academic endeavors.
An example of cultural mergers is her Coca-Cola Kimono (1975). The hand woven cloth is patterned with the Coca-Cola logo, using the labor-intensive (picture ) technique commonly used to pattern Japanese folk weaving.
Seeking to share her knowledge of Japanese textile techniques and kimono she co-founded Kasuri Dyeworks (1975), a gallery and shop in Berkeley, California. "Perhaps more than anyone else, Wada caused the evolution of fiber focus from cloth structure to the dye patterning that we now recognize as surface design".
In the 1970s, Wada taught at the
Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts in Berkeley, California.
One of her notable students was textile artist Ana Lisa Hedstrom.
From 1983 to 1984, she lived in
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
on an Indo-US Sub-Commission fellowship for education and culture and traveled extensively to research resist-dyed textile traditions in India and to visit cultural heritage sites and museums in India.
In 1979 and 1996, she received the Japan Foundation fellowship which resulted in two books: ''Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing'' and ''Memory on Cloth, Shibori Now''. Based on her knowledge of kasuri, she co-authored ''Ikat: An Introduction'' in 1973. In 1996 she co-curated an exhibition and co-authored the catalog at
The Textile Museum Washington D.C. ''The Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-Wear in America''.
Affiliations
Wada has co-organized and chaired all International Shibori Symposia, including the 2014 symposia, at the China National Silk Museum,
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
. The first one took place in Nagoya in 1992, and led to the foundation of the World Shibori Network, which she co-founded with Kahei Takeda, of
Arimatsu
is a town in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It houses the Arimatsu Station of the Meitetsu-Nagoya Line, roughly southeast of downtown Nagoya. The town merged into Nagoya on 1 December 1964, and is now a part of Midori-ku, Nagoya.
The town is kno ...
.
Wada is president Of the World Shibori Network.
In 1998 to 1999, a grant from the Matsushita International Foundation enabled her to study pre-Columbian textiles at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.
She has acted as consultant to costume designers, such as
Colleen Atwood
Colleen Atwood (born September 25, 1948) is an American costume designer.
Atwood has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design twelve times, winning four times - for the films ''Chicago'' (2002), ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (200 ...
for the movie ''
Memoirs of a Geisha
''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and wo ...
'' (Academy Award for Best Costume Design), Miyake Design Studio, Kuno Dyeworks, (for
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...
and Tiffany & Co.) and Eleanor Coppola (for ''
Francis Ford Coppola Presents
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
''). She lectures and teaches workshops on textile-related subjects including , dyeing, and the recycling and transformation of fabric. Exhibitors of her artwork work include the
Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery
The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...
and the International Textile Fair in Kyoto.
Since 2010, Wada has been Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Textile and Clothing,
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...
.
Personal life
Wada lives in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, she was married to dentist Hercules Morphopoulos (1934–2016). They have one son.
Grants, awards, honors
* 2018. Honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council
* 2016. George Hewitt Myers Award of the George Washington University Museum, recognizing "lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the field of textile arts"
[
]
* 2010. James Renwick Alliance of the Smithsonian Institution "Distinguished Craft Educator – Master of Medium"
* 2003. American Express Foundation Grant via Aid to Artisans for "Sri Yantra Bandhini Development Project", collaboration with the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
* 1999. Matsushita International Foundation Grant for "Amarras" replication and comparative study of ancient pre-Columbian tradition
* 1999. The Japan Foundation, Grant in support of catalogue publication of National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago Chile, for 3rd International Symposium
* 1996. Asian Foundation Grant for Crafts. Demonstration and exposition of traditional artisans of India, Africa, and Japan. National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India, for the 2nd International Symposium
* 1992. The Japan Foundation, Fellowship for research for ''Textile Production and Women Consumers in the First Half of the Twentieth Century'' Kiryu, Japan
* 1992, 1993. James Renwick Research Fellow, Smithsonian Institution. Senior postdoctoral fellowship for the National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC. Research project ''The Development of American'' ''/ Tie Dye/Shaped-resist since the 1960s.'' Washington, D.C
* 1983. The Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission on Education and Culture, Fellowship for research on tie-dyed textiles: bandhani, lahariya and ikat. Research affiliation with The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
* 1979. The Japan Foundation, Fellowship for research on resist-dyed textiles, and . Research affiliation with Kyoto City Fine Arts University, Kyoto and Arimatsu/Narumi Preservation Association, Nagoya, Japan.
Curatorial work
* 2013 Curator, ''mnemonikos: Art of Memory in Contemporary Textiles'' Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, Thailand
* 2004 Curator, ''Ragged Beauty: repair and reuse, past and present'', Museum of Craft & Folk Art, San Francisco, CA
* 2001 Curator, ''Shibori: Tradition and Innovation – East to West'', Museum of Craft & Folk Art, San Francisco, CA
* 1999 Curator, ''El Arte de Teñir con Amarras'', Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile
* 1996 Co-Curator, ''The Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art to Wear in America'', The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.
* 1992-94 Advisor, ''Japanese Design: A Survey since the 1950s'', Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, traveled to Milan, Paris, Düsseldorf, Osaka
Publications
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References
External links
World Shibori Networkkyoto shibori museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wada, Yoshiko
1944 births
Living people
21st-century Japanese women artists
21st-century Japanese artists
20th-century Japanese women artists
20th-century Japanese artists
20th-century women textile artists
20th-century textile artists
21st-century women textile artists
21st-century textile artists
Japanese contemporary artists
Japanese emigrants to the United States
Kyoto City University of Arts alumni
People from Kobe
University of Colorado alumni
Fellows of the American Craft Council
Japanese textile artists
Japanese women curators