Yoshiko I. Wada
2010 Masters of the Medium Award
Yoshiko I. Wada - artist, curator, textile historian - is one of the most important teachers in the American fiber art field, although not on the faculty of an academic institution. She has been an independent scholar and teacher for almost four decades.
Ms. Wada is single-handedly responsible for introducing the art of Japanese shibori to the U.S. Many of well-known fiber artists have studied with her, such as Ana Lisa Hedstrom and Lia Cook. Ms. Wada was especially influential in the art-to-wear movement.
Her early workshops, lectures, and important books (Shibori: the Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing and Memory on Cloth: Shibori Now) brought this age-old technique (tie-dye) from the psychedelic 60s into the contemporary craft art vocabulary. Noted textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen credits Wada with teaching him much of what he knows about Japanese textiles, a subject she has taught to three generations of American fiber art students who have incorporated Japanese textiles techniques into their art making.
Ms. Wada established the World Shibori Network which sponsors workshops and conferences world-wide, connecting historical technique and contemporary art practice. And most recently she established the Slow Fiber Studio which promotes sustainable textile practices and a "thoughtful approach to 'the making of things'", according to the studio web site. Her many awards include two Japan Foundation Fellowships, a Renwick Fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the gratitude of hundreds of fiber artists who have studied with her.