Yoshiko jinzenji biography

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At this age, I still want to explore more. Readers will enjoy learning more about her background and how she came to quilting.

My book tells the history of 40 years of quilt making in Japan and how the idea of the quilt was originally imported from America.

My book also introduces dozens of talented quilt artists—former painters, graphic artists, seamstresses and homemakers who have made professional careers in quilting—along with antique American quilts and early Japanese quilts.

The Japanese quilts are stunning and each quilter offers a unique Japanese aesthetic while staying true to their own style of landscape, taupe-ism, applique, abstract, mixed media or fiber art.

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Address in Japan
46-1, 2-Choume, Hieidaira, Ootsu, SHIGA,
JAPAN 520-0016
TEL/FAX 81-77-535-4670
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http:://www.yoshikoquilt.com

Yoshiko Jinzenji is a Kyoto-based quilt artist and teacher who has been quilting for over three decades.

Don’t bring negative energy to yourself, so that you can live however you want.

I have countless pieces of utensils, made of clay, porcelain, bamboo, rattan, etc., and embodying the stories of different people I’ve met. We toured her gorgeous custom-built house and of course, went through dozens of her stunning quilts.

Needless to say, an afternoon spent digging through these treasures—touching them, running my hands over her impeccable stitching, noticing the million tiny details—was priceless.

And she constructs her quilts in ways that are entirely new and innovative, a process she refers to as “engineering” quilts.

Her artwork is in private collections around the world and many museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Nebraska, the Spencer Museum in Kansas, and others.

Teresa’s new book:
Yoshiko Jinzenji is featured in my new book, Japanese Contemporary Quilts and Quilters.

Jinzenji’s pieces can be seen in the permanent collections of the following museums: Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas (Kansas), International Quilt Study Center&Museum (Nebraska), Museum of Art and Design (New York), New England Quilt Museum (Massachusetts), and Victoria and Albert Museum (London).

I’m an artist, so I got invited to many young creators’ and friends’ exhibitions.

When minimalism is done well, the result draws your eye to the uniqueness that a seemingly limited color set and design can render. Her work is unusual on so many levels and the quiet palette of mostly white, off white and other natural colors is incredibly soothing in a world saturated with color, noise and confusion.

Minimalism is not for everyone.

At one-time, she was practically a one-woman industry who would dye her own yarns, weave her own cloth and make completely original quilts and other items from her own textiles.

Yoshiko’s quilts require patience and personal experience to truly appreciate. WEB PAGE: www.YoshikoQuilt.com

Yoshiko Jinzenji: 76-Year-Old Japanese Quilt Artist

The 76-year-old Japanese quilt artist Yoshiko Jinzenji bought a 4,300-square-feet plot of land up Mount Hiei in Kyoto 8 years ago to build a house for herself.

Yoshiko’s quilts fit this category precisely. I’ve been busy here with cooking and photography. She was one of the first Japanese women to study abroad in the US in the 1960s. I’ll hold quilt and photo exhibitions in 2020, if I’m healthy until then.

Yoshiko Jinzenji began making quilts around 1970 and in fact, she has recently retired from quilt making and is focusing her creative talent on cooking.

yoshiko jinzenji biography

In the ’80s, she moved to Bali to do natural dyeing and invented bamboo dyeing.

“Bamboo dyes the fabric soft and glistening in the sun.” Even the cloth used by Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo, Japan’s prominent “Big 3” designers, was first handed over to Jinzenji for bamboo dyeing.

Narrator: Yoshiko Jinzenji

The most important thing in life is to work hard but follow your heart.

I want to share my food and life with my friends here. She also has a studio in Bali, Indonesia. This is human: We don’t doubt what we believe we know.

I returned to Kyoto in 2013. She is a master of focus and refinement. “The whole house is an integrated kitchen with a small bathroom. As I was there, I felt like I must buy something.