Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Kay Sekimachi
Kay Sekimachi (born September 30, 1926) is an American fiber artist and weaver, best known for her three-dimensional woven monofilament hangings as well as her intricate baskets and bowls.
Kay Sekimachi was born in San Francisco on September 30, 1926 to first generation Japanese Americans Takao Sekimachi and Wakuri Sekimachi. After the signing of Executive Order 9066, Sekimachi was interned with her family at Tanforan Assembly Center and then the Topaz War Relocation Center from 1942 to 1944.
From 1946 to 1949 she attended the California College of the Arts (formerly California College of Arts and Crafts), where she initially studied painting, design, and silkscreening. After she visited the weaving room and saw students working on looms, she spent her entire savings on a loom the following day though she did not know anything about weaving. She started her art career weaving clothing and two-dimensional wall pieces. She heard Trude Guermonprez speak at Pond Farm In the summer of 1954 Sekimachi returned to CCAC to study with Guermonprez of whom she said "Trude opened my eyes that weavings don't have to be utilitarian." The student teacher relationship eventually became a deep friendship. Guermonprez challenged Sekimachi, leading her to take on more complex artistic projects. Sekimachi commented in a 1959 article that "Until then I was simply using accepted techniques and relying on books and traditional patterns."
She attended the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Liberty, Maine where she studied with Jack Lenor Larsen in 1956. A staunch champion of her work, Larsen also commissioned Sekimachi to design a fabric for his production company.
She started experimenting with nylon monofilament hangings and weaving off loom by 1963. Her complex three-dimensional nylon hangings were featured several of the major exhibitions of the fiber arts movement, including Wall Hangings at the Museum of Modern Art (1969), Deliberate Entanglements at UCLA (1971) and the Biennale internationale de la tapisserie, Lausanne Switzerland in 1975 and 1983.
Sekimachi was part of the New Basketry movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her later works comprised small woven baskets. She also created woven paperfold-like boxes with a Japanese influence. She later created baskets of linen warp ends and rice paper. Most recently, Sekimachi has incorporated objects found while beachcombing into her works, also creating jewelry.
Sekimachi taught in the Textile Arts Department at, her alma mater, California College of Arts and Crafts, starting in the fall of 1975. She also taught at the Adult Division of the City College of San Francisco (formerly San Francisco Community College) and at Lake Almanor, and the Town and Country Weavers.
Sekimachi lives in Berkeley, California. In 1972, Sekimachi was married to woodturner Bob Stocksdale.
Hub AI
Kay Sekimachi AI simulator
(@Kay Sekimachi_simulator)
Kay Sekimachi
Kay Sekimachi (born September 30, 1926) is an American fiber artist and weaver, best known for her three-dimensional woven monofilament hangings as well as her intricate baskets and bowls.
Kay Sekimachi was born in San Francisco on September 30, 1926 to first generation Japanese Americans Takao Sekimachi and Wakuri Sekimachi. After the signing of Executive Order 9066, Sekimachi was interned with her family at Tanforan Assembly Center and then the Topaz War Relocation Center from 1942 to 1944.
From 1946 to 1949 she attended the California College of the Arts (formerly California College of Arts and Crafts), where she initially studied painting, design, and silkscreening. After she visited the weaving room and saw students working on looms, she spent her entire savings on a loom the following day though she did not know anything about weaving. She started her art career weaving clothing and two-dimensional wall pieces. She heard Trude Guermonprez speak at Pond Farm In the summer of 1954 Sekimachi returned to CCAC to study with Guermonprez of whom she said "Trude opened my eyes that weavings don't have to be utilitarian." The student teacher relationship eventually became a deep friendship. Guermonprez challenged Sekimachi, leading her to take on more complex artistic projects. Sekimachi commented in a 1959 article that "Until then I was simply using accepted techniques and relying on books and traditional patterns."
She attended the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Liberty, Maine where she studied with Jack Lenor Larsen in 1956. A staunch champion of her work, Larsen also commissioned Sekimachi to design a fabric for his production company.
She started experimenting with nylon monofilament hangings and weaving off loom by 1963. Her complex three-dimensional nylon hangings were featured several of the major exhibitions of the fiber arts movement, including Wall Hangings at the Museum of Modern Art (1969), Deliberate Entanglements at UCLA (1971) and the Biennale internationale de la tapisserie, Lausanne Switzerland in 1975 and 1983.
Sekimachi was part of the New Basketry movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her later works comprised small woven baskets. She also created woven paperfold-like boxes with a Japanese influence. She later created baskets of linen warp ends and rice paper. Most recently, Sekimachi has incorporated objects found while beachcombing into her works, also creating jewelry.
Sekimachi taught in the Textile Arts Department at, her alma mater, California College of Arts and Crafts, starting in the fall of 1975. She also taught at the Adult Division of the City College of San Francisco (formerly San Francisco Community College) and at Lake Almanor, and the Town and Country Weavers.
Sekimachi lives in Berkeley, California. In 1972, Sekimachi was married to woodturner Bob Stocksdale.