Michiko Suganuma(b.1940) is a leading Kamakura-bori

Kamakura-bori

is a form of lacquerware from Kamakura, Japan. It is made by carving patterns in wood, then lacquering it with layers of red, blue, yellow or other colors...

 artist from Japan."Focus on Japanese Lacquer" exhibition information. She is the only Japanese female to have presented her collection at exhibitions of National Gallery of Victoria

National Gallery of Victoria

The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...

 in Melbourne. Her works are held in the collection of the gallery.

Career

After graduating from Joshibi University of Art and Design

Joshibi University of Art and Design

abbreviated"", is a private art and design university located in Suginami and Sagamihara in Japan.Joshibi is the first art institution for female students in Japan and is the oldest art school as private.- History :...

, Michiko Suganuma studied Kamakura-bori

Kamakura-bori

is a form of lacquerware from Kamakura, Japan. It is made by carving patterns in wood, then lacquering it with layers of red, blue, yellow or other colors...

, a traditional form of lacquerware

Lacquerware

Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. The lacquer is sometimes inlaid or carved. Lacquerware includes boxes, tableware, buttons and even coffins painted with lacquer in cultures mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere.-History:...

 in her 20s. She opened her first studio in 1977. For 12 years from 1985 she was a visiting teacher at primary schools in Zushi, Kanagawa

Zushi, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 58,793 and a population density of 3,390 persons per km². The total area was 17.34 km².-Geography:...

.

Selected exhibitions and collections

In 1983 Michiko Suganuma had an exhibition of her urushi-ware and Kamakura-bori work. The Minato Ward Office purchased Michiko’s Kamakura-bori which was exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984 and was finally presented to the Australian Embassy of Tokyo in 1998. In 1984, Michiko Suganuma successfully held the first living artist’s exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne,, where she showed six Kamakura-bori and six urushi pieces. In 2004 her tea ceremony works were shown as part of the Gallery's “The Art of Zen” exhibition. She also participated in the Gallery's 2006 exhibition “Focus on Japanese Lacquer”.

Her work can be seen at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and at the Australian Embassy of Tokyo.

Awards

In 1976 Michiko Suganuma was given a certificate for urushi coating by the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

. In 1978 at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Gallery, she obtained Freshman Prize for a transparent urushi piece. In the same year, the object was also selected by Kanagawa-prefecture. From 1979 to 1982, she obtained Encouragement Prize, Effort Prize, Industrial Arts Great Prize for transparent urushi pieces at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Gallery. Her urishi-ware won Japanese regional awards in 1992.

Style

She makes Cinnabar-red lacquerware using a coating method basing on Kamakura-bori technique which she calls . Another of her techniques combines the brilliance of Shin-nuri (enamel) with the dullness of an unpolished oxidized silver.