Explore nihonga Japanese-style painting with local artist Hiromi Katayama! Building on traditional techniques, the term nihonga (日本画) was coined in the Meiji period (1868-1912) as a conscious effort to preserve and promote Japanese artistic forms in reaction to Western-style painting, or yōga (洋画). Hiromi will introduce the special water-based pigments and painting techniques to demonstrate different varieties of this art form. Attendees will also have the opportunity to try sumi-e ink painting in a hands-on workshop. Sumi-e is ink painting on thin rice paper using sumi ink and bamboo brushes with expressive brush strokes.
Hiromi Katayama, a native of Ibaraki, Japan, is a professional artist currently working from her private studio in Houston, Pennsylvania. Hiromi's love for creative art was founded in the studio of her mentor, Renjoin Sensei, from the age of nine years old. Before she came to the United States, Hiromi received her BFA in Japanese Traditional Painting from Joshibi University of Art and Design, Tokyo, Japan, in the spring of 2008. In the summer of 2008, Hiromi traveled to Pennsylvania, where she studied for her MFA in the painting program at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May of 2012. At the close of her personal academic journey, Hiromi gained representation and found success as her galleries’ clientele received her art. Hiromi continues to create work using traditional Japanese pigments and techniques; through traditional methods and materials, and her belief in cultural foundations in nature, she hopes to share her culture and a little bit of herself with her audience. Through international exhibition and public displays of her work, Hiromi strives to influence, inspire, and educate. This vision has resulted in the permanent exhibition of Hiromi’s work in museums, corporations, and esteemed private collections.