FUCLUTY EXHIBITION  Jan. 11 - Feb. 16, 2020
Evanston Art Center (Evanston, IL) 

Opening reception on Jan. 19, 2020

 Sunrise, Sunset #1
Hand cut-out and hand stitched.  Hand dyed with natural dyes and indigo on silk, cotton, ramie, and handmade Japanese rice paper. Constructed.
12"H x 28"W x 5"D (two pieces together)

Further Evidence: The Art of Natural Dyes exhibition
May 28-July 14, 2019
Penland Gallery in North Carolina
Curated by Catharine Ellis (guest curator, artist, and educator)

 total 16 artists were selected by Catharine Ellis and Kathryn Gremley (gallery director of Penland).

 Recent piece, SUNRISE, SUNSET #2. Fabrics: Katazome (rice paste resist printing technique) with natural dyes on silk                                  organza. Paper Panel: Dyed silk with natural dyes: madder, lac, weld, apple, cochineal, marigold,  indigo. Applied traditional Japanese rice paper with scroll making technique. Hand cut out. Constructed.    86”H x 68”W x approx. 24”D

                                                    View from different angle.

                                                         Detail.

Workshop for Marwen

I taught a workshop, "Sashiko and Boro stitching" for Marwen as a visiting artist.  
Marwen is an art center for children in downtown Chicago, IL.  There are various after school programs in painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, prints, metal, and fiber.  
Although I normally do not teach children, I was interested in the program at Marwen, so I did it.  It was fantastic!  Great experience.

I introduced traditional SASHIKO (stitching) and BORO (stitching).  Boro is a rug or waste cloth, and patched and mendid to repair originally in Japan.  It can be an art form.  Since we wanted to use all indigo blue shades, Rachel who invited me to teach a workshop, dyed fabric previously to make several shades of blue.  Although I was not sure how much children can sew, many students (6th and 7th grade) tried to sew and they were fine!  Children are very flexible and try to challenge a new art form.  The workshop was a short time.  Even so, Rachel will continue to instruct them to teach stitching following classes.  Then after finishing the pieces, they will be displayed for the exhibition in the gallery at Marwen.  Children will be excited to see their accomplishment.

                                Introduction of Sashiko stitching and Boro using my father's Kimono garment.

                               Example of my Indigo dyed and stitched piece.

                                                  Showing samples of Boro stitching.

                                            Various samples of Boro stitching.  There are many shades of blue.

                                                    Student is stitching.  photo by Rachel Hill  /Marwen

                                                   Student is stitching.  photo by Rachel Hill /Marwen

                                                   Student is stitching.  photo by Rachel Hill /Marwen

I taught Katazome workshop in the summer, 2018 at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.  It was only for a week and it was very intense.  Even so, we went through whole process; designing and cut out stencils, cooking rice paste, spreading rice paste through stencil, brushing soy milk, alum, and natural dyes, such as Lac, Weld, Madder, and Logwood finishing to set colors.  We made a indigo dye vat and dipped rice pasted fabric.  Also we dipped already colored with natural dye; yellow of Weld made lovely green after dipping it into indigo dye bath.

 Amy is spreading the rice paste out through her exquisite stencil.  See the below.

 We started to cut small stencils.  The black color stencil is attached SHA(silk gauze) for screen.

Brushing Lac on fabric.  This way with bamboo stretchers is traditional Katazome, and it stretches both directions.  It dries quickly, and it can be used long fabric, e.g. ten yard!

Community piece with Weld.  Everyone contributed his/her own stencil with rice paste.  Then we dipped it into indigo dye vat to make an emerald green color.

 During the class.  Arrowmont has a large space with wonderful equipment that we need.

 It was a full class.  Everyone was truly creative, patient, and hard working students. I loved them!!!

 During the critique.  They were productive!  I was impressed by student who came from different back ground, not fiber.  Even so, the core is an art.  Use of different medium must be a great opportunity to discover new direction.  Especially young people who pracite different meium tried to lean Katazome, and I admired their experimentation.

My piece, "Coexistence #20" is in the show, Hoop Dreams.The gallery space is upstairs at Lillstreet Art Center.

#LillstreetHoopDreams
June 1 - July 7 | Annex Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, June 1

Save the date, and join us on opening night for an Instagram-curated exhibition in the Lillstreet Annex Gallery. Featuring 17 artists from across the country, this selection of artists has been brought together by a world wide web of threads.

Katazome with Natural Dyes & Indigo

Katazome with Natural Dyes & Indigo workshop (two weeks session)
at the Penland School of Crafts, summer 2017
I would like to share the photos of the students: They did wonderful work!!!  They followed the basic rice paste resist technique, then pushed harder to develop the possible way to use the technique.  It was impressive to observe their development.

Amy Taylor

Lisa Yoneno

                                                                                     Madolin Yoshikane

River Takada-Capel

Ariel Lauren Wilson

Joan Raymond

Jan Quarles

Jessica Hammond

Margret Mills

Alyssa Dyar

Mirrah Johnson

Tyshawn Henry

Trace/Memory Exhibition at the Fort Lewis College: Akemi Cohn

More pictures from the Trace/Memory exhibition (October-November, 2016) at the Fort Lewis College, Colorado).  Shown total 13 pieces.  

Left: Remembrance #B  Japanese rice paper dyed with indigo.  Painted natural dyes.  Sumi ink.  Hand stitched.  Hand cut-out.  Constructed.  13"H x 68"W x 7"D total five pieces.

Right: Memory of Marigold #1  Silk dyed with natural dyes.  Katazome (rice paste resist printing technique), applied Japanese scroll making technique.  Hand cut-out.  Constructed.  34"H x 48:W x 20"D

left: Cycle of Renewal #4  Japanese rice paper dyed with indigo and natural dyes.  Applied traditional Japanese rice paper with scroll making technique.  Hand cut-out.  Constructed.  28"H x 50"W x 7"D

right: Cycle of Renewal #1  Japanese rice paper dyed with Indigo.  Hand cut-out and constructed.  58"H x 120"W (4 panels, each panel 29"Wx58"W)

Left: Remembrance  Fel and wool.  Hand stitched.  Indigo dyed.  39"H x 56"W

Right: Relocation #!  Color rice paste resist printing (Nassen Katazome) on silk.  

Hand stitched with indigo dyed thread.  Applique.  53"H x 93"D

The center piece: Relocation #3  Hand cut-out fabric, paint, Nassen Katazome on silk organza.  Constructed.  86"H x 68"W x approx. 24"D

Trace/Memory Exhibition Akemi Cohn

The exhibition has been well received! Here are some pictures.

It was a big space with tall ceiling.  Beautifully installed by the Fort Lewis College students direcited by Andrea Martine.  I am very pleased.

Trace/Memory Akemi Nakano Cohn

I will have a solo exhibition at the Fort Lewis College at Durango Colorado.   Invited as a visiting artist, I will give a slide lecture and critic for art students during the stay at the Fort Lewis College. (10/5-8, 2016)

Fort Lewis College Art Gallery

Trace/Memory: Akemi Nakano Cohn

October 6 – November 4, 2016

Opening Reception:

Thursday, October 6

4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

Gallery Hours:

Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

970-247-7167

www.fortlewis.edu/art-design/artgallery

Katazome with Indigo Dyeing

I taught a workshop of "Master Class", Katazome with Indigo Dyeing at Arrowmont (TN) in September 2016.   People come from various back grounds and they are young to matured in age.  Adult workshop is wonderful because we all share with our life experiences in class.  A student always something to tell a story about her life.  It makes the class richer!!! 

Drying indigo dyed fabrics on campus at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. (TN)

We designed, cut stencils, cooked rice paste, prepared fabric on table. (student: Selene Jarvis) 

The stencil paper can be used overall pattern.  Almost dried rice pase on fabric.  (student: Jan Quarles)

Then put rice paste through cut-out stencils.  (student: Phyllis Miller)

 Dipped in to indigo dye vat.  Remove rice paste (it is water soluble, easy to wash off).  CRIT/ We enjoyed show & tell.   (student: Kimberly Washburn)

Students accomplished designs even such a short period of time.  (student: Chara Jarvis)

December 10&12, 2015: I taught Indigo Shibori at Lake Forest High School as a visiting artist.  The students made wonderful work!  Preparation took so much time in my studio before the workshop because how to organize the time to use effectively.   Also, Debbie Zare (art teacher) helped me to keep going in the class.  Actual workshop was short, even so, the students quickly understood  how Indigo Shibori works. Thanks for this lovely experience.