Article taken from
THE DAILY YOMIURI
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1996
Fujikawa and the art of woodblock printing: It’s all a matter of relativity
By Ed Gutierrez
Special to The Daily Yomiuri
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KYOTO – It’s hard to define the mokuhanga or woodblock prints of Akiko Fujikawa. They are bold but simple, light yet filled with love. Her varied images range from entwined lovers to Japanese dolls to peering faces. Her unique style can be reminiscent of the jagged angles of Picasso or the soft curves of Matisse.
Unlike traditional woodblock prints, which often have landscapes and gardens as their subjects, Fujikawa’s tend to depict the relationship between people. Her striking lines may twist into abstraction and her colors experimentally mix with the paper but always into an easy to grasp, very human image.
“Her works are very exciting, and she continues to innovate with her printing techniques,” said established woodblock printer Richard Keith Steiner of Fujikawa’s exhibition, “You and Eye”, now showing in Tachikichi Studio Com. in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. The 48 year-old Fujikawa already has collections in Finland, Germany and France, and the British Museum recently purchased several of her prints for their archives.
As an independent woodblock printer, she does the whole process – design, woodblock cutting and printing by herself. Her 100% fiber paper comes from Yamanashi Prefecture, and its thickness and rough texture allow her complete control in the block-to-paper printing process. She uses a mixture of water colors and gouache, and sumi or charcoal for black. Most of her prints make use of only a few colors.
Amazingly, she only entered the field when she was 30. She originally studied English language and literature and, as a diversion before returning to England, enrolled in a woodblock printing course at the Kyoto Asahi Culture School. There, under the tutelage of renowned woodblock printer Takeji Asano, now 96 and once a friend of Picasso’s, she rapidly became, in the master’s own words, the “best student” he had ever had.
“He must have thought I was really weird because I asked so many questions,” recalls Akiko Fujikawa. “But we got along and I liked his strong character.”
The Kyoto-born artist lives in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, with her husband, Geoffrey Wickham, himself a prominent artist. They share a studio in a converted old Methodist Church, and she speaks about her husband with the same tenderness and emotion that she puts into her work. “He is everything for me, He taught me from scratch and always tells me to use passion, which is so lacking in modern art.”
The subject of her next work will be the BBC Orchestra. Fujikawa, an avid fan, has long since been fascinated by the odd discrepancies between rehearsals, which often have casually dressed musicians reading newspapers, and serious, tuxedo affair performances. She is planning on doing a huge mural that could take three years to complete. For Fujikawa, who believes one should “learn until you die”, this project will mark a new phase in an already wonderfully molting(sic) career.
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The show continues until Nov. 12. The gallery is located on B2 of Tachikich Bldg. in Shijo/Tominokoji kado, Shimogyo Ward.
Call (075)211-3143
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Akiko Fujikawa 