Photo by Seiya Kawamoto for the monthly magazine “Shumi no Suibokuga: Hito to Sumi”
Artwork photographs by Adam Reich
YASUKO HASUMURA
Born in 1958 in Hokkaido, Japan
Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan
Yasuko Hasumura manipulates Japanese washi paper and sumi ink into a unique abstract expression which captures air, light or an instant onto a canvas. Born in 1958 in Hokkaido, Japan, Hasumura studied oil painting at Tama Art University and contemporary art theory under Lee Ufan. Greatly influenced by an encounter with Noh theatre, which she describes as a “soul-trembling experience,” Hasumura strived to recreate this experience onto canvas. This led her to experiment with traditional materials of Nihonga, Japanese-style painting. After studying sumi painting with the master Yoshiyuki Nakano, Hasumura went on to develop her current style working only with sumi ink and ultra-thin washi paper. These muted, tranquil works are often compared to those by Hiroshi Sugimoto. Hasumura’s attitude towards production reflects what she learned from Ufan: be aware and focus on the relationship between the body and materials.
Hasumura is currently a member of the Japan Artists Association and the International Association of Art.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017
Solo Exhibition (Shibata Etsuko Gallery, Tokyo)
2016
Yasuko Hasumura: Washi no Sekai (Ginza Mitsukoshi, Tokyo)
Gendai Suiboku 2015 (Gallery Nagai, Tokyo)
2013
“Yasuko Hasumura Suibokuga-ten” (Shinsaibashi Daimaru, Osaka)
2012
Solo Exhibition (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
Yasuko Hasumura Sakuhin-ten (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Tokyo)
2011
Inori no Katachi-ten (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi, continued in 2012)
2009
Sumi no Sekai-ten at Japan Art Festival (the Salzburg Museum, Austria)
Yasuko Hasumura: SUIBOKU (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
2007
Sumi niyoru Chusho-teki Hyogen (Gallery Moteki, Tokyo)
1993
Kanata no Mono (Tamuramaki gallery, Tokyo)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Seattle Art Fair 2019 (CenturyLink Field Event Center, SEIZAN Gallery Booth, Seattle)
2019
Sumi: Japanese Ink Painting From Post-War to the Present (SEIZAN Gallery, New York)
2018
Kaze 2018 (Gallery Q, Gallery Bar Kajima, Tokyo)
2013
Sensu-ten (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, continued in 2015)
2012
Nihon no Shitsurei: Kissho no Katachi-ten (Daimaru Shinsaibashi, Osaka)
Summer Art Selection (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi)
2011
Ome Art Jam: Great East Japan Earthquake donation Exhibition (Ome Municipal Museum of Art Civic Art Gallery, Tokyo)
2010
Kiei artists 7+7 no Shiten (Sapporo Daimaru Department Store, Hokkaido)
Invitational Exhibition Gendai Suiboku Sakka-ten (The National Art Center, Tokyo, Tokyo, continued every year afterward)
2009
Something Precious Exhibition (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, until 2014)
2008
International Artexpo (New York, USA, continues in 2009)
Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition (The Ueno Royal Museum, Toyo, continued in 2009, 2011)
The 37th Japanese Today’s Arts Exhibition in Spain (Komijasu, Spain)
2007
LINEART INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR (Gent, Belgium)
AWARDS
2008
Paris Salon award, Franco-Japanese contemporary art world exhibition (Tokyo)
EXHIBITIONS
Sumi: Japanese Ink Painting from Post-War to the Present