Akiko Fujikawa
Japanese woodblock printmaker
my profile
Dates & events
Exhibits twice yearly with 'SHINANO-
Came to UK and set up the Chapel Studio with artist husband Geoffrey Wickham
Open Exhibition BEECROFT GALLERY Southend-
Solo Print Shows in Finland.
Nelimarkka Museum, ALAJARVI
Jakobstad Museum, JAKOBSTAD
K H Redlunds Museum, KOKKOLA
Solo Show at STUDIO COM Gallery, commended by The British Council. Kyoto.
Two Solo Shows sponsored by Alfa-
Annual Open Exhibitions,The Armed Forces Art Society, London.
Shows with Geoffrey Wickham at BEECROFT GALLERY Southend-
Solo Show at Gallery Godai, Kyoto.
Solo Show at The Gallery Chelmsford.UK.
Elected Member of the Armed Forces Art Society, London.
Solo Show Haltern City. Germany.
Solo Show at STUDIO COM, commended by The British Council, Kyoto.
Two-
Two-
Show "Lasting Impressions" at City Gallery, Leicester City Art Council. Leicester
Solo Show at Daiwa Anglo-
Solo Show at Town Centre Gallery. Braintree.
Three Man Show-
Solo Show at Haddenham Gallery. Hadenham, Cambridgeshire, UK
Solo Show, JAPAN FESTIVAL, Chapel Studio.
ANNUAL Show, ART TRAIL, Burnham-
Two Man Show with NANA SHIOMI -
Show, ART TRAIL, Chelmsford, Essex.
Two Man Show with NANA SHIOMI – ICE HOUSE, Holland Park, London
Four Seasons of the Year -
Personal statement
England is a wonderful country.
I never imagined I would be an artist and live in a sailing town in Essex when I graduated from a university in Kyoto with a degree in English and American Literature.
In 1973, two years after graduating, I came to England to improve my English and fell in love with the country and the people. After 5 years I went back to Japan to study woodblock printing under the master woodblock print artist Takeji Asano. As his student I learnt through observation rather than formal teaching methods. (See below for a list of my teachers)
I returned to England in 1980 and I met and married Geoffrey Wickham, sculptor, painter and lecturer who taught me about art and artistic expression. Having learnt a lot about woodblock printing I expressed the opinion that it was easy. He disagreed. How right he was. Even now after 30 years of printmaking I still find something new every time I work in my studio.
I follow traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques but I choose universal subjects to work with. I tend to pick up on aspects of human relationships, human psychology, the mundanity of daily life and relationships between people and the natural world. The sky, water and land give me inspiration for shapes and colours but anything, a wooden wall or dirt on a floor, can also give me inspiration.
The woodblock printing is a long process; designing, tracing, cutting, carving, and finally printing. Sometimes it takes months to complete one work. Even if I manage to express my feelings and passion in the original drawing, it is quite possible to lose them by the time I complete the print. So I am always aware of that and I am very happy if I achieve what I originally set out to do.
In the next few years I will be exploring nature in a new series of prints and I hope I can put more of my humour and the Japanese sense of simplicity into my work.
My 62nd birthday was on 25th May 2010. I am very aware of the passing of time and I aim to create one or two major pieces before I am unable to complete the strenuous printing process; a masterpiece in my eyes, if not in those of another.
As a Japanese artist who has lived many years in England, my work tries to reconcile the aesthetic sensibilities of the two cultures, using traditional woodblock printing techniques with the boldest possible colour and the purest possible line.
My studies:
Traditional Japanese woodblock printing,
mokuhanga at Asahi School of Art with Print Artist -
Mountain retreat with Master Print Artist -
In Kyoto with Master Mokuhanga Cutter -
REIZOH MONJU.
1989 -
1986
1990-
1991
1992
1993-
1993
1994
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2007-
2007
2010