Makiko Wakisaka
Mixed media, Soft sculpture
1970 Born in Tokyo, JAPAN
1993 B.A. Keisen University. Faculty of Humanities
1994 Completed Kawashima Textile School
Contact: makiko.wakisaka@gmail.com
Statement
“Hidden strength inside the fragileness” “The things that cannot be seen but definitely exist” “Vagueness boundary” These are the themes of my artwork.
I use leaf veins as material. Its appearance is like lace and looks so fragile, but the line (vein) is the route that carries energy to keep you alive.
To keep my artwork fragile and soft, I sew to connect leaf veins with transparent nylon thread, not using glue or anything to fix. The leaf is never identical and differs in shape, thickness, hardness, and warp condition.
I try to express the characteristics of each leaf, keeping in mind how to utilize those leaves in my artwork.
I cut the leaf veins and contrast them with lines and a lacy surface. This contrast makes beautiful shadow and silhouette.
Website: https://www.makiko-wakisaka.net
"confetti"
Solo Exhibition
2026 Sky and Water surface (Kobo /Tokyo, JAPAN) ※scheduled to be held in October
2024 Atmosphere (gallery pause / Tokyo, JAPAN)
2023 Atmosphere (Gallery Saga-Beauty / Kobe, JAPAN)
2015 erosion (gallery pause / Tokyo, JAPAN)
2013 cell (gallery pause / Tokyo, JAPAN)
2010 Fiber Art made by Leaf veins -power inside fragility- (Gallery Bonbra /Tokyo, JAPAN)
1996 chrysalis (Gallery Yoyogi /Tokyo, JAPAN)
1995 chrysalis (gallery pause /Tokyo, JAPAN)
Recent Group Exhibition
2026 Enjoying Textile Art -Contemporary Art with Thread, Fabric, and Fiber-
(Gunma Museum of Art Tatebayashi /Tatebayashi, JAPAN) ※scheduled to be held in October
2025 Fiber Art by Fifteen + Lin Lecheng (The Museum of Kyoto /Kyoto, JAPAN)
Textile Art Miniature 9 (Gallery Maronie /Kyoto, Gallery 5610 /Tokyo, JAPAN)
“From Lausanne to Beijing” International Fiber Art Biennial (Tsinghua University Art Museum /Beijing, CHINA)
2024 The Materials and Techniques (gallery pause /Tokyo, JAPAN)
2023 22nd International Mini Textile Exhibition BUBBLE (Galeria Umelka / Bratislava, SLOVAKIA)
Textile Art Miniature 8 (Gallery 5610 /Tokyo, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art /Kanazawa, JAPAN)
AUF Exhibition (Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art /Kyoto, JAPAN)
2022 TRAD 繋 (Kunsthuset Annaborg / Hillerød, DENMARK)
CONTEXTILE (Palacio Centro Cultural Vila Flo
Awards
2026 24th International Mini Textile Exhibition EMPATHY (Galeria Umelka / Bratislava, SLOVAKIA) Jury Prize
2022 International Mini Textile Competition (Musées d'Angers /Angers, FRANCE) Public Prize
2019 International Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art -Small format- (Museo Del Traje /Madrid, SPAIN) First Prize
2017 Fantastic Fibers (Yeiser Art Center /KY, U.S.A.) Second Place
1999 Textile Kultur Haslach LOOK THROUGH transparent plants (Vonwiller building /Haslach, AUSTRIA) Special Prize
1998 International Biennial of Miniature Textiles (Szombathely Art Museum /Szombathely, HUNGARY) Grand Prix
1995 Takaoka Crafts Exhibition (Takaoka Cultural Hall /Takaoka, JAPAN) Jury Prize
"dive into sparkling water"
"microscopic creature"
"scent of sunshine" photo by Mareo SUEMASA
"whisper of the forest"
"Morning Haze" photo by Nobutsugu SATO
The works shown are for reference only and may differ from the works for the exhibition.
