Inspired by CWAJ’s mission of fostering female leadership for 50 years and support of art through its annual exhibition of contemporary Japanese prints, leading Italian fashion brand Loro Piana Japan is collaborating with CWAJ with the donation of a special award, the CWAJ Print Show Loro Piana Woman Artist Award. The winner of the award (500,000 yen) is Yui Onodera, a young artist with a blossoming future in printmaking. Our hope with this award is to encourage her career as an artist and the development of Japanese contemporary prints.

About Loro Piana

Loro Piana is the symbol of Italian excellence and its collections embody a distinctive style characterized by understated elegance. Since its foundation in 1924, Loro Piana has constantly pursued and redefined the goal of offering sublime beauty and authenticity to a discerning global clientele, while placing equal importance on service quality.

The theme of my work is the expression of humanity. We can get a glimpse of human nature by seeing how people react to the same experiences in different ways. The technique I use is water-based woodcut. The appeal of water-based woodcut prints is the depth it brings out in colors by the layering and mixing of colors rubbed together to create a different look that cannot be made on canvas or drawing paper. In order to bring out its charm, I take special care with burnishings and handprinting to pursue the unique expression of my work.

I currently live in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, but in the future, I would like to return to Yamagata and open a print studio where artists can get together.

私の制作のテーマは人間性の表現です。日常の中に見える人間 性を木版画で表現しています。何気ない人間の仕草や表情など を捉えることで人間性とは何かを問いかけています。 制作技法 は水性木版です。水性木版画は摺り重ねにより、キャンバスや 画用紙の上ではできない深い混色や絵の具の濃度を変えて摺る ことで違った表情を作れるのが魅力です。その魅力を引き出せる ように、摺りにおいては人一倍気を使い、摺りの多様さで自分の 作品独自の表現を追求しています。

現在は岐阜県高山市に住んでいますが、将来的には出身県で ある山形県に戻り、より版画が親しみやすいものになるよう版画工 房を作りたいです。