The Poetics of Pattern

Nishikata’s journey into textile dyeing began with an encounter with the work of Keisuke Serizawa. As a high school student, she came across his work at the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. This experience later inspired her to study bingata, the traditional Okinawan dyeing technique, at university and, after graduation, to travel to Okinawa to learn the craft firsthand.

Over time, however, Nishikata developed a distinctive artistic language of her own, unconstrained by any particular style or school. Whenever something captured her imagination, she would explore its origins, study it closely, and reinterpret it in her own way. From classical patterns to familiar flowers, birds, insects, landscapes, and freely imagined geometric forms, the remarkable variety of motifs in her work reflects the ease and curiosity with which her interests moved from one subject to another.

Many of Nishikata’s works possess an irresistible charm—a quality that might best be described by the Japanese word kawaii, or “cute.” Once we recognize this quality, we begin to see it even in her more classical designs, where a similar sense of playfulness and affection quietly emerges from within their elegant, carefully composed patterns.

What particularly interests KATSULA WORKS is the lively creativity with which Nishikata embraced inherited patterns while freely combining them in unexpected ways, discovering new forms in the world around her, and transforming them into playful expressions of her own. For Nishikata, perhaps patterns were a world in themselves—a blissful world to explore, discover, and play within.

In 2026, marking the 80th anniversary of Kumiko Nishikata’s birth, KATSULA WORKS and Koomin, which manages her works, archival materials, and catalogues, jointly present this exhibition.

The online exhibition explores Nishikata’s work through four perspectives: Inheriting, Combining, Discovering, and Playing. Alongside the main exhibition, a series of smaller special presentations will be released periodically, highlighting such materials as her New Year’s greeting cards, stencils, and other aspects of her creative practice.

Organized by: KATSULA WORKS and Koomin

Created at different times and inspired by a wide variety of subjects, these works are remarkably diverse in character. Some draw upon the refined elegance of classical patterns, while others transform familiar forms into unexpected, playful designs that bring a smile to the viewer’s face. Yet throughout them all, we find a certain tenderness and charm—a quality of kawaii, or endearing playfulness, that is unmistakably Nishikata’s own.

What do we find beautiful? What catches our attention, stirs our imagination, and inspires us to discover new forms? Perhaps patterns reveal something of the unique way in which an artist sees and experiences the world.

Through this series, we invite you to explore Nishikata’s world of patterns, one discovery at a time. We hope that among these twelve works, you will find a pattern that speaks to you.