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Biography

永野和美 Kazumi
Nagano
Kazumi
Nagano

brooch (2014)
left: H6.5 x W6.5 x D3 cm / right: H5.5 x W5.5 x D4.5 cm
Kazumi
Nagano
Profile
  • 1946 Born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
  • 1972 Tama Art University, MFA / Lives and works in Tokyo
  • 01 Exhibitions More
  • 02 Awards More
  • 03 Public Collections More

About
the Artist
About
the Artist

As if capturing the beauty of Japanese painting into her woven jewellery, epitomised by the moon, flowers, and subtleties of snow, it can be said that Kazumi Nagano (b. 1946 –) is one of the leading artists in her field. Contemporary jewellery is one of the most hotly-collected mediums in applied arts by museums and collectors, and Nagano’s works, which embody conceptual, structural and creative elegance, have been collected by the Victoria & Albert Museum and a multitude of various important private collections in recent years. Striking is the fact that Nagano had only delved into the world of jewellery after reaching the age of 50. Instead, she was formally educated as a Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) artist. Yet, as if painting the aesthetics of traditional Japan into her three-dimensional pieces, her seductive silhouettes are emblematic of the romanticism inherently found in the two-dimensional world of Japanese painting, of subtle flowers blowing in the wind, with reverence to the warmth of not the sun but of moonlight. Serenity, not dynamism, is the hallmark of Nagano’s luscious forms made from materials such as gold and platinum threads, combined with the elasticity of the contemporary material that is nylon.
The world of Japanese painting has been condensed and captured into both sartorial and visual beauty within the contemporary jewellery of Kazumi Nagano. Widely known for the supple silhouettes found in her gold and platinum bracelets, brooches, and necklaces such as the piece featured in this catalogue, Nagano creates her art objects by utilising threads made of various precious metals and weaving them together as if tapestry.
Obtaining her raw materials from Kyoto, the materials of gold (in widely different colours) and platinum are ingeniously transformed into her warp, or longitudinal threads, while her lateral threads, or weft, are made from nylon in order to add an element of elasticity, texture and substance. By weaving the warp and weft into her loom, radiant sheets of gold and platinum are completed. Then, Nagano ultimately uses her hands to tie, knot, and braid her works into eloquent silhouettes that are not only beautiful when worn, but are also elegantly displayed as installation.