About Artist Selected Artworks News Exhibitions

About Artist

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1956, Shiomi studied oil painting and printmaking at the Tama Art University (BA, MA), Tokyo, before she came to London to study contemporary art and received an MA in printmaking from the Royal College of Art in 1991. She has been living and working in London since 1989. Shiomi is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and Japan Artists Association Inc. Rabley Contemporary is Shiomi’s representing gallery since 2012. In 2017 Rabley Contemporary and Nana Shiomi co-published ‘This Side and the Other Side, Nana Shiomi Woodcuts 1996 – 2016’.

Internationally, Shiomi’s work has been shown in exhibitions in the UK, United States, Italy, Japan, Iran, Finland, Slovenija, Ireland, China and Portugal. Her work is held in a number of public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Oriental Museum, Durham, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY, USA, Royal College of Art, Wimbledon School of Art, London, Brunel University, Middlesex, Aberystwyth University, Wales and Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan.

Selected Artworks

News

Nana Shiomi is currently working on new artworks, dedicated to those who lost someone near to them during the pandemic and celebrating their lives. She writes, ‘we all have to go one day but I believe the power of nature. All living creatures naturally live their lives to the fullest. It is a precious thing.’

Focusing visually on flowers, these works are called “Not Mourning, But Morning Glory –White” and “Not Mourning, But Morning Glory –Indigo”. A photograph from Japanese antiquity depicting flowers and unusual irregular patterns inspires them. 

Nana Shiomi makes contemporary woodcut prints. After a period of examining Western art, Shiomi moved on to consider her own Japanese culture within her prints. Shiomi often makes reference to masterpieces from the Japanese ukiyo-e tradition in her own work. Her printing approach can be described technically as a combination of relief/intaglio and water-based woodcut printmaking. It is rooted in the traditional methods of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking by hand with a Baren, to which she has added her own experimental printing techniques.

Exhibitions

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions

2018
Nana Shiomi Woodcuts: Nature and Mirror Images, Hanga Ten at Gallery 8, London, UK
In A Room of One’s Own, Clare Hall, Cambridge, UK

2017
This Side and the Other Side, Rabley Contemporary, Marlborough, UK

2014
Reverse: Universe, Edinburgh Printmakers Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Eternal Gaze, Rabley Contemporary, Marlborough, UK

2011
A Fan with a View, Oriental Club, London, UK

2010
One Hundred Views of MITATE, Malek National Library Museum, Tehran, Iran
Looking into the Mirror Pond, Daiwa Foundation, Japan House, London, UK

2009
One Hundred Views of MITATE, Editions Limited, Liverpool, UK

2007
Nana Shiomi Solo Exhibition, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, London, UK

2005
MITATE – Contemporary Japanese Woodcuts, Oriental Museum, Durham, UK
MITATE – Contemporary Japanese Woodcuts, 20-21, Scunthorpe, UK

2004
A Room on the Other Shore, Studio Sienko Gallery, London, UK

2003
The First Studio Open, Shiomi Studio, London, UK

2002
Contemporary Japanese Woodcuts, Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK
MITATE – Contemporary Japanese Woodcuts, Mac Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

2001
Contemporary Japanese Woodcuts, Lyttelton House Gallery, Malvern, UK
One Hundred Views of MITATE, Eltham College, London, UK
One Hundred Views of MITATE, Kawagoe Gallery, Saitama, Japan

1999
Nana Shiomi Recent Works, Hornton Place Gallery, London, UK
One Hundred Views of MITATE, Kawagoe Gallery, Saitama, Japan

1998
Double Faced Theatre, Daiwa Foundation, Japan House, London, UK

1993
Mary and Maries, Stable Gallery, London, UK
Recent Works, Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan

1983
With the Ball’s Bounding Rhythm, Kaneko Art G1 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

1981
Double Faced Theatre, Gallery Yamaguchi, Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibitions

2021
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK & 1997-2000, 2002, 2005-2014, 2017-2021
Hockney to Himid 60 Years of British Printmaking, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
The Collection, National Museum in Gdansk, POLAND
JAPAN/WATER, GroundWork, The gallery for art + environment, King’s Lynn, UK
Rising River – Waning Moon, Rabley Gallery, Marlborough, UK
The International Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London, also in 2015, 2016 and 2019
Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, Annual Exhibition, London, UK since 2004 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Royal Arsenal

2020
Beauty in Turbulence: Works during Lockdown, Hanga Ten at Gallery 8, London, UK

2019
Japanese Works on Paper – Then and Now, Hanga Ten at The Royal Arcade Gallery, London, UK

2018
Print Rebels Haden, Palmer, Whistler and the Origins of the RE, Bankside Gallery, London, UK
JAPAN A Summer of Inspiration, West Yorkshire Print Workshop, West Yorkshire, UK
2017 The Rock and Soul of the Japanese Garden, Hanga Ten at Gallery 8, London, UK The Original Print Show, Curated by Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Zillah Bell Gallery, North Yorkshire, UK
The 3rd Global Print 2017, Douro, PORTUGAL Dialogue in Yinchuan -Exhibition of Contemporary Printmaking 2017, The Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, CHINA
It Works! Edinburgh Printmakers Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
The Woodcut: From Dürer to Now, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK

2016
ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London, UK & also in 2011
Surface Cutting, The Keeper’s House, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Art of the Print, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minnesota, USA
The Masters: Etching, Bankside Gallery, London, UK

2015
Xiaoxiang Exhibition, Mei Lun Gallery at Hunan Fine Art Institute, Changsha, China
The Masters: Relief Prints, Bankside Gallery, London, UK

2011
In Japan, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK

2010
Recent Acquisitions, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Japanese Prints, Brook Gallery, Devon, UK
Leaving Japan Behind -The Moon at the Window, The Ice House Gallery, London, UK & also in 2007

2009
Matrix: An Unstable Reality, 28th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Northern Print Biennale, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
RWA Open Exhibition, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK, & 2004
Daughters of Sun Goddess – Japanese Femininity, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Inside Out, Art and Architecture Shop, London, UK

2008
Group Show, Tolman Collection, Shanghai, China
Originals, Mall Galleries, London, UK & 2004 – 2008

2007
Art for Life, Christie’s London, UK & 2002
Art in Action, Waterperry House, Oxfordshire, UK, & 2006

2006
Hommage to Yoshiaki Tono – Water Runs Always in Plural, Gallery Tom, Tokyo, Japan

2005
Yugyo, The Embassy of Japan, London, UK
Sunek / Thrust, 26th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2004
Japanese Woodcut Prints – An Insight into Contemporary Practice, Grays Print
Museum, Northern Ireland, UK

2003
Japanese Woodcut Prints – An Insight into Contemporary Practice, Ohio Northern University, Ohio, USA
Contemporary Woodcut Prints: Four, Gallery Fukuyama, Tokyo, Japan
Japanese Woodcut Prints – An Insight into Contemporary Practice, Touring in Ireland and Northern Ireland, UK
Seize the Moment, Six Chapel Row, Bath, UK

2002
Acts of Renewal: Japanese Art Re-Interpreted, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Japanese Woodcut Prints – An Insight into Contemporary Practice, Collyer-Bristow Gallery, London, UK
Made In Japan, Bankside Gallery, London, UK

2001
A Festival of Japanese Culture, Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth, UK
Out of Japan, Beldam Gallery at Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK

1999
Under the Cherry Blossom, Mantua and Verona, Italy
Contemporary Prints, curated by Harriet Green, Highgate Gallery, London, UK

1998
Ten Woodcut Printmakers, Ginza Inoue Gallery, Tokyo, Japan & 1996-1997
Under the Cherry Blossom, Sala della Pescheria Vecchia, Este, Italy

1997
Document & Art, Art Museum Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
The Spirit of the Staircase, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

1996
East London Open Studios, London, UK
Philip Morris Art Award, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan
Four Japanese Printmakers, Harriet Green Gallery, London, UK

1994
East London Open Studios, London, UK

1993
Bradford Print Exhibition, Bradford, UK

1992
Six Artists Portfolio, Gulbenkian Gallery at Royal College of Art, London, UK
The Spirit of the Staircase, Marlborough Graphics, London, UK

1987
KAMAE, South London Art Gallery, London, UK

AWARDS

2021 “Home for Runaway Girls -Clubs are The Desire for Knowledge-“ was awarded “Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair Award” at the International Original Print Exhibition 2021, RE Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.
2019 East London Printmakers Prize at the National Original Print Exhibition 2019
2015 East London Printmakers Prize at the National Original Print Exhibition 2015 Wyndham Purchase Prize at the RE Original Print 2015
2011 “Aberystwyth University, School of Art Museum and Gallery Purchase Prize”, at RE Annual Exhibition, London
2010 “7th May 1956, 8th May” 1956 and “Mirror Room -Katsura-“ were included to the permanent collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2008 Elected RE member at Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, London
2006 “Basic Room –Zan getsu-“ was short listed for the “Insight –Image of the Year” at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
“Mirror Room –Katsura–“ received “ RA Summer Show Curwen Studio Prize”, London
2002 Introduced on BBC2/BBC4 TV Programme “Painting the Weather –RAIN-“
1992 Selected as a representative in the “1992 Six Artists Portfolio”, Royal College of Art, London
1991 “The Dalar-Rowney Award”, at Royal College of Art Degree Show, London
1981 “The Third Prize”, at Seibu Print Grand-prix, Tokyo

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK)
Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, UK)
Oriental Museum, Durham University (Durham, UK)
John Snow College (Durham, UK)
Bronx Museum of the Arts (NY, USA)
National Museum in Gdansk (Gdansk, POLAND)
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK)
Embassy of Japan in the UK (London, UK)
Douro Biennial Collection Meseum (Douro, PORTUGAL)
Brunel University (Middlesex, UK)
Aberystwyth University, School of Art Museum and Gallery (Wales, UK)
Royal College of Art (London, UK)
Wimbledon School of Art (London, UK)
Clare Hall (Cambridge, UK)
Johnson Museum, Cornell University (NY, USA)
Tama Art University Museum (Tokyo, JAPAN

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

The Collection: Basil Alkazzi’s Gift to the National Museum in Gdansk, National Museum of Gdansk, Gdansk, POLAND, 2021 (ISBN: 978-83-66433-18-2)
Hockney to Himid 60 years of British Printmaking, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK, 2021 (ISBN: 978-18-69827-74-8)
Print Rebels Haden, Palmer, Whistler and the origin of the RE, Royal Society of Painter – Printmakers, London, UK, 2018 (ISBN: 978-1-527217-75-1)
This Side and the Other Side, Nana Shiomi, Woodcuts 1996 – 2016
by Meryl Ainslie and Nana Shiomi, Rabley Contemporary, Marlborough, UK 2017 (ISBN: 978-0-9926817-4-6)
Looking into the Mirror Pond, Nana Shiomi, London 2010
Impressive – Printmaking, Letterpress & Graphic Design, by Gestalten, Berlin 2010 (ISBN: 978-3-89955-288-1)
Printmaking – A Contemporary Perspective, by Paul Coldwell, Black Dog Publishing,
London 2010 (ISBN:978-1-906155-43-8)
Northern Print Biennale 2009 Print Awards, Catalogue 2009 (ISBN:978-0-9555846-4-0)
Printmakers’ secrets, by Anthony Dyson, A&C Black, London 2009 (ISBN:978-0-7136-8911-2)
Printmakers – The Directory, A&C Black, UK (ISBN:0-7136-7387-7)
An Artist’s Self-Depiction – Shiomi, Daruma magazine, Japan
Matrix: An Unstable Reality, 28th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia (ISBN:978-961-6229-28-9)
Sunek /Thrust, 26th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia (ISBN:961-6229-10-9)
NANA SHIOMI 2003, Catalogue published by Artist, Basil Alkazzi, Monaco
Acts of Renewal: Japanese Art Re-interpreted, 2001, by Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Japanese Woodcut Prints 2001, by University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK
Hanga Geijutsu 2000, No. 110, Japan (ISSN:1343-7399)
ALL’ OMBRA DEI CILIEGI: arte contemporanea giapponese 1998, Este, Italy
Wood Engraving & The Woodcut in Britain 1890-1990, by James Hamilton, 1993
(Published by Barrie & Jenkins), London (ISBN:0-7126-9866-3)