Biography
Kiyotsuka Noriko is a Japanese printmaker and mixed-media artist whose innovative synthesis of intaglio printing, sculpture, and found industrial objects has produced a distinctive body of work exploring aerial landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes. Born in Manchuria, China, in 1940, she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1968, majoring in oil painting.
While her formal education focused on painting, Kiyotsuka's artistic direction shifted decisively in the 1970s when she began combining printmaking techniques with sculptural elements. She developed a signature approach of laminating lead foil, capacitors, rubber tubes, and other industrial components into her intaglio prints, creating a striking dimensionality within otherwise two-dimensional compositions. To source these materials, she regularly visited Tokyo's Akihabara district, the city's famous 'Electric Town,' where she selected and soldered electronic components herself.
Kiyotsuka's imagery is fundamentally shaped by the aerial perspective. She has described finding inspiration while looking out of airplane windows, sketching the patterns of land and water visible from altitude. This bird's-eye viewpoint gives her work a distinctive quality, rendering familiar landscapes as abstract patterns of light, texture, and geometric form, which she calls 'koseki' (flight path).
Beyond printmaking and sculpture, Kiyotsuka has worked as an illustrator and designer of art books and albums. Her work received significant international recognition from the 1970s through the 1990s, with exhibitions and awards spanning Japan, Europe, Australia, and other regions. Her contribution to the 'One Hundred Views of Tokyo' portfolio, depicting an airport scene from 1989, is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1940
- Nationality
- 🇯🇵Japan
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Subjects
- Etching
- Works Indexed
- 1
Frequently Asked Questions
Kiyotsuka Noriko is a Japanese printmaker and mixed-media artist whose innovative synthesis of intaglio printing, sculpture, and found industrial objects has produced a distinctive body of work exploring aerial landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes. Born in Manchuria, China, in 1940, she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1968, majoring in oil painting.
Kiyotsuka Noriko was active born in 1940. They were associated with the Contemporary Mokuhanga movement.
Kiyotsuka Noriko's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Kiyotsuka Noriko's prints frequently feature etching.
Original prints by Kiyotsuka Noriko can be found in collections including Art Institute of Chicago.
Kiyotsuka Noriko is a contemporary printmaker contributing to the ongoing tradition of woodblock printing. Contemporary prints offer collectors an affordable entry point into Japanese printmaking. Prices range from $100 for smaller works to $1,500 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $200–$600 range. The contemporary printmaking scene is active and international, with artists exhibiting at galleries, art fairs, and print biennials worldwide.