Nana Shiomi: Her Own Interpretation

3 August until 13 October 2024

[ Exhibition )

This is a FREE exhibition located in our Print Room on the ground floor.

No need to book a ticket, unless you wish to visit the rest of the Gallery as well.

Click here to plan you visit – Admission prices, opening times & how to get here

Print with two portrait images next to each other with a cream border between and around. Left image shows a shattered porcelain blue and white dish on a background of a yellow floorboards making a stage with red in the top back and on the right the bowl is whole on the same yellow and red background.

Discover Nana Shiomi’s (b. 1956) exquisite woodcut prints – a fusion of Japanese tradition and European influences.

Shiomi’s sophisticated woodcut prints combine relief and intaglio methods. They are rooted in the traditional technique of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking, yet also reference European artists, such as Paul Cezanne, Marcel Duchamp, Albrecht Dürer and Giorgio De Chirico.

Shiomi uses traditional icons that have become synonymous with Japanese culture and daily life. Her work explores philosophy and popular culture to reconsider the interchange of influence between Britain and Japan. Her objects will be presented on a stage or Garan-do, an empty space of reflection on which her creative visions unfold.

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Download large print labels

Japanese woodcut of a handheld mirror on a yellow wooden stage and a red background by Nana Shiomi

Buddha image on yellow and red background by Nana Shiomi

Print showing a mirror opposite image of a blonde girl in a long blue and white dress running across yellow floorboards on a red background. In the top left and bottom right corners are a red 2 and a red diamond to make the image look like a playing card.

Square print showing a flower with white and blue colouring and green leaves to either side. In the background you can see a stage of yellow floorboards and a deep red backdrop

Print showing two separate vertical rectangles in which is a garden of green, red and yellow leafed trees and shrubs with a winding yellow path to the left of each image.

Print showing a god to the left with a muscular blue body stood on a cloud and in the background is a stage with yellow floorboards and a deep red backdrop

Print of a Japanese screen with a screen in vertical rectangle right with a yellow frame and white rectangles in a grid and left is a garden scenes with trees and water.

Photograph of a woman top left in a black v neck jumper and white tshirt standing at a table on which is displayed a large print.

Bio - Nana Shiomi

Nana Shiomi, born in Osaka, Japan in 1956, pursued her education in oil painting and printmaking at Tama Art University in Tokyo, where she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Later, she moved to London to continue her studies, obtaining an MA in printmaking from the Royal College of Art in 1991. Since 1989, Shiomi has been based in London, where she continues to live and work. She holds fellowships with the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and Japan Artists Association Inc. Shiomi has been represented by Rabley Contemporary since 2012, and in 2017, they co-published the book This Side and the Other Side, Nana Shiomi Woodcuts 1996 – 2016.

Shiomi’s work has been exhibited internationally, including in the UK, United States, Italy, Japan, Iran, Finland, Slovenia, Ireland, China, and Portugal. Her pieces are part of several public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Oriental Museum in Durham, Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York, Royal College of Art, Wimbledon School of Art in London, Brunel University in Middlesex, Aberystwyth University in Wales, and Tama Art University in Tokyo.