Preview: Fusako Yoshikawa – Japanese Woodblock Prints @ Northern Print

Northern Print hosts a new exhibition of Japanese woodblock artist Fusako Yoshikawa from 18th March to 8th May. Yoshikawa has a long history with the studio, first connecting with Northern Print in 1999 through a print exchange with Nagoya Print Works. She returned for a residency in 2001, delivering masterclasses and exhibiting work across the North East, and came back again in 2010 to teach and show new prints in Northern Print’s then‑new Ouseburn home.

Born in Nagoya in 1941, Yoshikawa originally worked as a designer for Tokai Television before shifting her focus to family life and, later, to printmaking. She began studying woodblock printing in 1980 under Kanji Suzuki and Koji Narita of the Kokugakai Art Group, whose emphasis on artistic freedom shaped her approach. Her practice remains rooted in traditional Japanese methods: hand‑carved blocks, water‑based inks brushed directly onto the surface, and printing done entirely by hand using a bamboo baren. Each colour requires a separate block, and many of her editions are extremely small — sometimes only five prints.

This new exhibition brings together a selection of Yoshikawa’s intricate, quietly detailed works, shown alongside pieces by fellow Japanese artists Satoko Saito and Mariko Sugito.