Nana Shiomi – Not Mourning, But Morning Glory – WHITE

Featured in the RA Summer Exhibition 2022

“I have admired Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and work since I was in growing up in Japan. She gazed at her beloved things, especially flowers and her flowers gaze back at us. I wanted to imagine my version of flowers. I looked the V&A collection and found antique Japanese photographs of the Morning Glory flower. They have unusual irregular petal patterns and these flowers remain in my heart and memory. 

I recently lost my father, and during this pandemic lots of people lost their loved ones… so I wanted to dedicate my new pieces to those who have lost someone near and cerebrate the lives of the people who are recently gone. Life is fragile, but I believe in the power of nature and all living creatures to live out their natural lives to the fullest. It is a precious thing.” – Nana Shiomi

Shiomi’s woodcut prints are a combination of relief and intaglio water-based printmaking, rooted in the traditional methods of the Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking. She prints by hand with a baren, and has added her own experimental printing techniques and tools.

Shiomi studied at the Tama Art University, Tokyo, She moved to London in 1989 and attended the Royal College of Art in 1991. Her work is in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum; Ashmolean Museum; Oriental Museum; Pallant House Gallery; Embassy of Japan in the UK; Aberystwyth University; Clare Hall, Cambridge; Wimbledon School of Art; Brunel University; Royal College of Art; Durham University; John Snow College; University of Chichester collection; Bronx Museum of the Arts (USA); Johnson Museum, Cornell University (USA); National Museum in Gdansk (POLAND); Douro Biennial Collection Museum (PORTUGAL); Tama Art University Museum (JAPAN)