“There is great beauty and simplicity in our everyday lives: the respect for working by hand, finding enlightenment in something very repetitive, a childhood memory that resolves the present moment. This is what catches my imagination and propels me towards printmaking. Day-to-day objects and occurrences become metaphors to share my appreciation and convey human experience. My attention to details, textures, and patterns of the natural world inspire me to create. I use relief, etching, monotype, and mixed media, reveling in the methodical processes and acknowledging the gratification I feel when my work goes through the press.” —Yoshi Nakagawa
Yoshi Nakagawa is a Japanese-American artist based in Oaxaca. Following eight years in Seattle where she exhibited in group and solo shows, she decided to take a break from life in the US. In 2010, she travelled to Iceland, Mexico and Argentina, and eventually settling on Oaxaca as the best place to find work and live a simple life.
Yoshi has shown her work in over 50 collective exhibitions in Mexico, the US, Canada and South Africa, and 12 individual shows in Oaxaca, Mexico City, the US, Canada and Japan. She has taught workshops and participated in artist residencies in Mexico, the US, Canada and Honduras.
Yoshi organized the Feria Gráfica Oaxaca in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018 with Leonardo Torres Novoa at the Taller Espacio Alternativo. The printmaking fair was an opportunity for local artists to sell directly to the public without paying high commissions to galleries or intermediaries. Usually held during the day of the dead festivities, the feria featured over 90 resident and out-of-state artists.
In 2019, Yoshi curated and organized Beyond Borders:Oaxaca-Seattle Exchange with Laurie D. Brown and Mercedes Lopez at the Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca (IAGO), the Mexican Consulate in Seattle, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Cascadia College and Seattle Central College. This cultural exchange between 20 Oaxaca printmakers and 20 Seattle printmakers celebrated 40 years of collaborations and friendships between the two graphic art communities, with exhibitions, talks and printmaking technique demonstrations.
You can see more of Yoshi’s art on her website: www.yoshinakagawa.com
