Yoshikatsu Tamekane

"I savor the past and also look forward to the future as a time of hope and advancement for the human spirit."  

Woodblock printmaker Yoshikatsu Tamekane is known for his technical prowess combined with a unique mystical aesthetic and vision.  

Tamekane is essentially a woodblock printer, but adds texture to his woodblock images using collagraphic techniques.  Materials such as string, resin, and paper are applied to the block in order to add relief to the surface of the print.   He also incorporates gold and silver leaf in many of his works.

Tamekane's prints are bold, iconic expressions of the concepts the artist seeks to visualize. The passage of time, travel, spacial relationships, and the miracle of life are all subjects of his works.  His images combine landscape, geometry, evocative organic forms, and a controlled use of color and texture into eye-catching images that capture the imagination.

Born in 1959 outside Osaka Japan, Tamekane studied at Sokei Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo. Tamekane lived and worked in France from 1991 to 1994, further perfecting his skills in the art of printmaking.  He has shown extensively in Japan, Europe, and the United States, is a member of the Japan Print Association, and has shown seven consecutive years in the prestigious CWAJ Print Show in Toyko.