Michiko Suganuma

Michiko Suganuma (菅沼　三千子 Michiko suganuma) (born 1940) is a leading Kamakura-bori now Wagae-nuri artist from Japan. She is the only Japanese female to have presented her collection at exhibitions of National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Her works are held in the collection of the gallery.

Career

After graduating from Joshibi University of Art and Design, Michiko Suganuma studied Kamakura-bori, a traditional form of lacquerware in her 20s. She opened her first studio in 1977. For 12 years from 1985 she was a visiting teacher at primary schools in Zushi, Kanagawa.

Selected exhibitions and collections

In 1984 Michiko Suganuma had an exhibition of her urushi-ware and Kamakura-bori work at the National Gallery of Victoria. The gallery purchased Michiko's urushi-ware called Cinnabar Red lacquer then. In 1998 the Minato Ward Office purchased Michiko’s Kamakura-bori which was exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984 and was finally presented to the Australian Embassy of Tokyo. In 1984, Michiko Suganuma successfully held the first living artist’s exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne,Australia, where she showed five Kamakura-bori and five urushi pieces. In 2004 her tea ceremony works were shown as part of the Gallery's “The Art of Zen” exhibition. She also participated in the Gallery's 2006 exhibition “Focus on Japanese Lacquer”.