2026 · May 30
East Bay Open Studios
The Orchard Gallery, 489 25th St, Oakland · 11am–5pm. Tsunagu — Threads of Continuance on view in person. Oakland Art Murmur opening night.
吉川文代
Fumiyo Yoshikawa
Fumiyo Yoshikawa is a Kyoto-born artist whose practice moves between sumi ink, Nihonga, and installation-based forms. Through layered material processes and sustained observation, her work explores memory, resonance, and the subtle relationships between humans, environment, and time. Working with mineral pigments, shell white, paper, and gold, she creates works that emerge through encounters with place, atmosphere, and lived experience.
Artist Statement
I work in sumi-e and Nihonga — traditions rooted in materials drawn from the natural world. Sumi made from soot and nikawa; mineral pigments ground from stone; gofun from fermented shells; natural earth pigments; and pure gold are applied to washi, mashi (hemp paper), kozo, and Xuan paper, often mounted on wood panels.
Through these means I explore invisible relationships between humans and the natural world, and the resonances that move across time, memory, and the threshold of the seen. The white serpent, the monarch butterfly, the persimmon tree at dusk: each holds a thread of the same conversation. Each is a study in metamorphosis — in the quiet ways that living things remain in relation across generations.
My most recent body of work, Tsunagu — Threads of Continuance (2026), gathers these threads explicitly. Mounted as hanging scrolls in the traditional Japanese format, the paintings follow monarch butterflies through eucalyptus groves — a migration that crosses generations, a kind of remembering carried in the body.
Throughout, the practice itself is a form of attention. The hakubyo (preparatory ink study) is not a draft but a breath; the finished work is not a destination but a return.
Biography
Fumiyo Yoshikawa is a Nihonga artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was born in Japan, where she completed her formal training in classical Japanese painting at Kyoto University of Education (B.A., 1987) and continued her studies under the painters Okamura Rinkō, Ikeda Michio, and Ikeda Yōson within the Seitōsha school of the Shijō-Maruyama lineage (1987–2002).
In Japan, her work was selected for the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and Kyoto Museum of Art, and recognized in major regional and national competitions, including the Mayor of Kyoto Prize (1987) and the Kyoto Broadcasting Prize (1989). She held solo exhibitions at Gallery Mouri (Ginza, Tokyo) and Gallery Shiki (Kyoto).
Since relocating to the United States, her practice has expanded to include solo exhibitions in California, Colorado, and Guatemala, with recent shows at Gallery Hillgate (Kyoto, 2019, 2024) and the Nova Orbis Arte y Música Forum (Guatemala, 2024). She received the Best in Show — Painting Award (2021) and Best in Show — Calligraphy Award (2023) from the Sumi-e Society of America, among numerous other honors. Her work is held in the permanent collections of the Alameda County Art Collection, the Kyoto University of Education Library, and the Western Colorado Center for the Arts.
She was awarded an Arts in Residency Fellowship from the UCROSS Foundation in 2022. She has taught Nihonga and Sumi-e at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Crocker Art Museum, Richmond Art Center, and Civic Arts Walnut Creek, and has been an invited instructor and juror nationally. In April 2026, her series Tsunagu — Threads of Continuance was presented at SF Art Fair 2026 at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, through Arc Studios & Gallery.
Gallery Representation
Fumiyo Yoshikawa's work is represented by Arc Studios & Gallery (San Francisco, CA) and Ren Brown Collective Gallery (Bodega Bay, CA).
Process & Materials
The works are made using traditional Nihonga and sumi-e materials: mineral and earth pigments (malachite, cinnabar, ocher clay, coral) and gofun (white pigment from fermented oyster and scallop shells) bound with nikawa (a natural animal-protein binder), sumi ink, and pure gold, applied in layered gradations on washi, mashi (hemp paper), kozo, hosho, and Xuan paper. Many works are mounted on wood panels; some are presented in the traditional hanging-scroll format.
The slow building of luminous layers from raw natural materials is inseparable from the meaning of the work. The materials carry place, history, and the body of the artist — they are not neutral, and they ask for time.
最近の展示・お知らせ
Current & Upcoming
2026 · June 13–14
Open Studio — San Pablo
1021 Broadway Ave. #205A, San Pablo, CA · 11am–4pm. Both pieces of Tsunagu — Threads of Continuance together for the first time.
2026 · June 20 – July 18
Bewitched! Kitsune in the House
Arc Gallery, 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco. Opening Reception: Saturday, June 20, 7–9 PM. Showing Tōryanse — The Gate, a hanging scroll triptych. Kakejiku mounting by Liza Dalby.
2026 · April 16–19
SF Art Fair 2026
Tsunagu — Threads of Continuance presented through Arc Studios & Gallery at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco.
2025
Between Worlds, Within Memories
Two-person exhibition with Toru Sugita at Inclusion Gallery, San Francisco. Featuring Vital Energy — Rebirth and Revival.
2025
Vitality of Ink (水墨常新)
Six Winners from the 60th Annual Sumi-e Society of America Exhibition · CCACC Art Gallery, Gaithersburg, MD.
展覧会・受賞・コレクション
Exhibitions & CV
Art Fairs
- 2026SF Art Fair · "48 Pillars", Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, San Francisco, CA April 16–19, presented through Arc Studios & Gallery
Solo Exhibitions
- 2024"Todo es Uno", Nova Orbis Arte y Música Forum, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
- 2024"Shapes of Akasha", Gallery Hillgate, Kyoto, Japan
- 2022"Art as Meditation", Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2020"Contemplation in Ink", California Institute of Integral Study, San Francisco, CA
- 2019Gallery Hillgate, Kyoto, Japan
- 2017"Art of Sumi-e", San Francisco Zen Center, San Francisco, CA
- 2016"Japanese Brush Painting / Sumi-e", Albany Community Center Arts Foyer Gallery, Albany, CA
- 2015Walnut Creek City Hall, Walnut Creek, CA
- 2012–13"A Place Where Memories and Thoughts are Shared", Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, CA
- 2011"A Child's World", La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, CA · Western Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction, CO
- 2009Hang Ups, Grand Junction, CO
- 2003Colegio de Santo Tomás Akino, Antigua, Guatemala
- 2001Gallery Shiki, Teramachi Sanjo, Kyoto, Japan · Gallery Mouri, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
Two-Person Exhibitions
- 2025"Between Worlds, Within Memories", Inclusion Gallery, San Francisco, CA with Toru Sugita
- 2018"Pacific Rim", Mana Gallery, Oakland, CA
- 2018Mirang Wonne + Fumiyo Yoshikawa, San Francisco MOMA Artists Gallery, CA
Invited Group Exhibitions
- 2026"Bewitched! Kitsune in the House", the Arc Project Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2026"From Trees to Forest", CCACC Art Gallery, Gaithersburg, MD
- 2025"Vitality of Ink — Six Winners from the 60th Annual Exhibition of the Sumi-e Society of America", CCACC Art Gallery, Gaithersburg, MD
- 2025"48 Pillars", Arc Studio and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2024"48 Pillars", Arc Studio and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2021"FourSquared", Arc Studio and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2020"48 Pillars", Arc Studio and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2014"The Way of the Brush", Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay, CA
- 2013The Kyoto Nihonga Association Exhibition, The Museum of Kyoto, Japan
- 2010"Mischief", Studio Gallery, San Francisco
- 2004"Issho / Together", Meridian Gallery, San Francisco · "Nihonga no Hyaku", Ishisataiseisya Hall, Kyoto · "PANGAEA", the Canvas Gallery, San Francisco
Juried Exhibitions (Selected)
- 2026FEM-minis Juried NCWCA Member Show, San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, CA
- 2025"Brown Palms, Yellow Balms", AAWAA & APICC, SOMArts, San Francisco
- 2024International Calligraphy and Painting Fine Arts Exhibition, ICCPS · 61st Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition
- 2023"Properties of Water", Arts Benicia, CA · 60th Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition, Chinese American Museum, Washington DC
- 2013–24Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibitions (50th–61st)
- 2010National Juried Exhibition, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA
日本(抜粋)
Japan (Selected)
- 1985–95The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition (Nitten), Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum / Kyoto Museum of Art (selected)
- 1991–93The Spring Japan Fine Arts Exhibition (Shunki Nitten), Sogo Art Gallery (Tokyo) / Takashimaya Art Gallery (Osaka)
- 1989–91Kyoto Newspaper Japanese Painting Grand-Prix Exhibition · Tokyo Central Museum Japanese Painting Grand-Prix Exhibition
- 1989The Kyoto Nihonga Association Selected Exhibition, Kyoto Culture Museum
- 1988Uenonomori Art Museum Grand-Prix Exhibition, Tokyo
- 1986"Kizashi" Three-Person Show, Sumi Gallery, Kyoto
Awards
- 2024China Cultural Advisor Award, International Calligraphy and Painting Fine Arts Juried Exhibition
- 2024Jurors Choice Award, Oakland Art Murmur EBOS Salon Exhibition, Studio One Art Center, Oakland, CA
- 2023Best in Show — Calligraphy Award · Innovative Sumi-e Award, 60th Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition
- 2021Best in Show — Painting Award, 58th Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition
- 2016Tesshin Sasaki Memorial Award, 53rd Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition
- 2015Art Store Award, 52nd Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition
- 2014Blick Art Award, 51st Sumi-e Society of America Juried Exhibition
- 2001Excellent Encouragement Prize, Seitosha Exhibition (Japan)
- 1990Excellent Encouragement Prize, Shunki Nitten (Japan)
- 1989Kyoto Broadcasting Prize, Kyoto Nihonga Association (Japan)
- 1987Mayor of Kyoto Prize, Seitosha Exhibition (Japan)
Fellowship & Residency
- 2022Arts in Residency Program, UCROSS Foundation
Permanent Collections
- ·Alameda County Art Collection, Alameda County, CA
- ·Western Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction, CO
- ·St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Junction, CO
- ·Kyoto University of Education Library, Kyoto, Japan
Teaching & Public Programs (Selected)
- 2025Juror, 62nd Annual National Juried Exhibition, Sumi-e Society of America
- 2025Invited Instructor, Three-Day Intensive Workshop on Traditional and Contemporary Ink Practice (online)
- 2019Sumi-e Workshop, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
- 2019Sumi-e Workshop, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
- 2018–Sumi-e Classes, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
- 2013–Sumi-e / Japanese Brush Painting Classes, Civic Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
- 2008, 2010Nihonga Demonstration, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
- 2006–08Adjunct Professor, "Japanese Traditional Painting — Sumi-e and Beyond", Mesa State College, CO
- 1993–95Adjunct Professor, Nihonga, Kyoto Bunkyo College, Japan
Education
- 1987Kyoto University of Education, Kyoto, Japan — Bachelor of Arts
- 1987–2002Studied Nihonga under Okamura Rinkō, Ikeda Michio, and Ikeda Yōson · enrolled in the Seitōsha school, Shijō-Maruyama lineage