Yukie Osumi

About the Artist

Expressing the Changes in Nature with the Soft Shine of Metal

Metalwork artist Yukie Osumi studied under Living National Treasures Ikkoku Kashima, Shiro Sekiya and Morihito Katsura and learned metalwork decorative techniques such as hammering, a technique to hammer and form metal, engraving and damascene inlay. Her artworks with organic designs using motifs of waves and clouds combined beautifully with metal have been awarded several times at the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition where the top class artworks in Japan gather. Her outstanding skills have been highly evaluated, and in 2015, she was designated as Living National Treasure in the field of metal hammering. Her artworks have been added to the collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and many other art museums in Japan and overseas. She is active at the forefront of this field and is spreading the charm of Japanese metalwork to the world.

Style

On tankin (hammered) vessels and by applying the traditional techniques of chasing, mainly nunome-zogan (textile imprint inlay), OSUMI captures the feelings of nature with motifs of formless flowing subjects such as waves, streams, clouds, or winds.

She creates vessels and utensils used in traditional culture such as flower vases, tea and calligraphy utensils; she is also aware of formations that harmonize with contemporary living space.

Biography

• 1969
  Graduated from Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
  After graduation, studied under KASHIMA Ikkoku, SEKIYA Shiro, and KATSURA Moriyuki
• 1988
  Assigned for 1 year to UK as an overseas trainee artist sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
• 2010
  Received a Medal with Purple Ribbon
• 2014
  Awarded the 1st recipient of Residency at The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s museums of Asian Art, Washington, D.C.
• 2015
  Acknowledged as a holder of important intangible cultural property (Tankin)
• 2017
  Received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette

Awards

• 1986
  Japan Art crafts Association Incentive Award at the 33rd Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Art Crafts
• 1987
  Grand Prize at the 34th Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Art Crafts
• 1991
  Masahiko Katori Award (First issue, in honour of the late Living National Treasure)
  The MOA Mokichi Okada Award for Excellence (4th issue, in honour of the late founder of MOA Museum of Art) and subsequent exhibition at the MOA Museum of Art
• 1998
  The Japan Arts Crafts Association Prize at the 28th Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Metalwork
• 1999
  Metropolitan Board of Education Prize at the 29th Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Metalwork
• 2009
  Outstanding Award at the 56th Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Art Crafts Prize of Holders “Important Intangible Cultural Asset” of Japan Art Craft Association
• 2010
  MOA Museum Prize (17th issue, in honor of the late founder of MOA　Museum of Art) and subsequent exhibition at the MOA Museum of Art
• 2014
  Outstanding Award at the 61st Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Art crafts Prize of Holders “Important Intangible Cultural Asset” of Japan Art Craft Association　

Public Collections

• Agency for Cultural Affairs
• The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
• Tamashin History and Art Museum
• Kunitachi City
• MOA Museum of Art
• Victoria and Albert Museum (London)
• National Museum of Scotland
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
• The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Museum)