菊池寛実記念 智美術館

菊池寛実記念 智美術館

Upcoming ExhibitionUpcoming Exhibition

Sekijima Hisako
Exhibition on Basketry（Working Title）

On display from November 14th, 2026 to March 22nd, 2027

Part I on display from November 14th to January 11th
Part II on display from January 19th to March 22nd
*The exhibition will be presented in two parts with exhibits rotated between Part I and Part II.

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《Four Boxes》1996, Walnut
Collection of Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum

Visualization of Concepts
SEKIJIMA Hisako (b. 1944) creates baskets as textile art. Basketry refers both to the technique of constructing baskets and to objects made using that method. However, while her works may resemble baskets, they are not intended to hold things. Sekijima focuses on the underlying principles of interlacing, bringing her thinking into being through a close engagement with the structures and properties of the materials, in questions and hypotheses concerning construction methods, as well as in discoveries that arise through processes of trial and error. In her practice, thought itself becomes the artwork, and her technical mastery enables its direct visualization.

Created with an analytical approach, Sekijima’s works are filled with the sense of wonder that accompanies discovery and allows us to witness the joy of thinking. This exhibition traces the development of thought and practice in her interlacing forms, from the 1980s to her most recent works.

Biography of Sekijima Hisako

1966　Graduated from Tsuda College, Tokyo, Japan with a B.A. in English Literature
1975　Lived in New York City, USA (until ’79), began basket-making
1976　Studied native basketry of America with Sandra Newman
1978　Studied contemporary basketry approach with John McQueen
1984　Solo Exhibition, “Nature Transformed”, Wave Hill House Gallery, NY, USA
Thereafter, solo exhibitions at Masuda Studio Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), Miharudo Gallery, (Tokyo, Japan), Gallery Maronie (Kyoto, Japan), Sembikiya Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), Gallery Isogaya (Tokyo, Japan), Kandori Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), Nakacho-Konishi Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), t-gallery (Tokyo, Japan), gallery nichinichi (Tokyo & Kyoto, Japan), Browngrotta Arts (CT, USA), and more
1986　Author of “Basketry”, published by Kodansha International, Tokyo, Japan
1988　Author of “Basketry no Teishiki” (Basketry’s Formulas), published by Sumaino-toshokann Shuppan-kyoku, Tokyo, Japan
1991　Featured in “Sozai no tsukuru katachi” (The Form Materials make: Hisako Sekijima), an NHK Video program broadcast in a series of craft studio visits
1994　Exhibited in “Sozai no ryobun” (The Domain of the Medium), The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan, became part of their permanent collection
1995　Exhibited in “Japanese Studio Crafts”, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, became part of their permanent collection
1995　Art and Design fair, SOFA (Sculpture, Object of Art), Chicago Navy Pier, USA
1998　Exhibited in “Gensou shokubutsuen” (Botanical Garden in Illusion), Hiratsuka-shi Museum of Art, Japan
1999　Exhibited in “Nature As Designer”, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, became part of their permanent collection
Exhibited in “Sekai wo amu” (Weaving the World), Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan
2002　Solo Exhibition, “Elegant kukan” (The Elegant Space), Tokyo International Forum, Japan
2005　Exhibited in “Asian Potentials: Art Nurtured by Sea and Island”, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan
2011　Exhibited in “Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers” (Tama Art University, Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, Japan Society in New York, and traveled to other places in Europe)
2012　Exhibited in “Beyond Threads”, Prefectural Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan
Exhibited in “New Footings:11 Approaches to Contemporary Crafts”, National Crafts Museum, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
2014　Art Fair, Collect 2014, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Exhibited in “Tounokukan kusakinokukan – Kawasaki Tsuyoshi to Sekijima Hisako” (Spaces in Clay/ Spaces in Plants, with Kawasaki Tsuyoshi and Sekijima Hisako), Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2016　Exhibited in “Box Project: Uncommon Threads”, Fowler Museum, UCLA, Curated and Commissioned by Lloyd Cotsen Academic Research
2017　Exhibited in “Binding Threads/Expanding Threads: The Art of Between-ness”, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan
2018　Exhibited in “From Nature: Contemporary Artists and Organic Materials”, Racine Art Museum, WI, USA
2024　Exhibited in “KO+GEI 2024”, Tokyo Art Club, Japan
Author of the new edition of, “Basketry no Teishiki” (Basketry’s Formulas), reissued by Heibon-sha
Present: Visiting Professor of Textile Department at Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan, Part-time lecturer at Kanazawa College of Arts and Crafts, Ishikawa, Japan

Public Collections
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan / The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, Japan/ Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan / Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum, Tokyo, Japan / Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK / The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA / Racine Art Museum, WI, USA / Erie Art Museum, PA, USA / The Long Beach Museum of Art, CA, USA / The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia / Arkansas Arts Center, AR, USA / LongHouse Reserve, Easthampton, NY, USA / Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, HI, USA / Llyod Cotsen Collection, etc.