Seiko Kawachi (b. 1948, Yamanashi Prefecture) is one of the leading figures in contemporary Japanese woodblock printmaking. He studied in the Oil Painting Course within the Department of Painting at Tama Art University, and while still a student, received the Newcomer’s Award at the 38th Japan Print Association Exhibition in 1970. In 1985, he spent a year at Columbia University in New York as an overseas trainee under the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs’ program for artists. During this period, he came to rediscover ukiyo-e as one of the origins of Japanese art.
Rooted in a deep respect for Hokusai and Edo-period culture, Kawachi regards printmaking as a means of “capturing the world.” Through his distinctive woodblock intaglio-relief printing technique, which combines the raised surface of traditional woodblock printing with intaglio elements, he gives vivid form to waves, Mount Fuji, the cosmos, and the vital energy of life through brilliant color and free, dynamic lines.
While inheriting the spirit of traditional Japanese woodblock printing, Kawachi has opened up a contemporary language of speed, movement, and multilayered space. In 2011, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Government of Japan. His works are held in major collections including the British Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
