Fukumaru, Naoko
Item
Maker Name
Fukumaru, Naoko
Studio name
Fukumaru Ceramic & Glass Art Restoration
Biography
In 2000, Chichester, England, Naoko Fukumaru graduated with a post-graduate diploma in Ceramics, Glass and Related Materials Conservation and Restoration. For the next twenty years she worked as a professional conservator at major institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and other institutions in the USA, Europe, Egypt, and Japan. Naoko has been involved in extraordinary projects including The Last Supper by Leonard da Vinci, The Tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt, Caravaggio and Veronese paintings, The Thinker by Rodin, The Detroit Industry Murals by Diego Rivera, Yoko Ono, Anish Kapoor, Marina Abramović, Peter Greenaway and Marc Quinn.
In 2018 Naoko relocated to Powell River, BC. Happen-chance led her to consider the Japanese restoration method of Kintsugi, where gold is used to restore and highlight breakage. Deciding to teach herself, she took up a residency at the Tidal Arts Centre in Lund, BC. She became tuned into her community and began to restore pottery.
In 2021 Naoko, Jesse Birch and Glenn Lewis held a joint exhibition ‘Imperfect Offerings’ at the Richmond Art Gallery. Along with her new works, Naoko did exquisite restorations on pottery from their collections; Hamada, Bernard Leach, Janet Darnell Leach, and works by historic BC potters, John Reeve, Glenn Lewis, Axel Ebring, Heinz Laffin, Charmian Johnson, and Mick Henry. Naoko also has a website where she has written histories and has examples of restored pieces from famous 20th C potters mainly from of the Leach/ Mingei school.
In 2022 Naoko led a very successful demonstration of Kintsugi at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Naoko has brought her extraordinary training and expertise to BC and her exquisite restorations, in particular of pottery, have ignited a long overdue conversation around how damage and imperfection, and visible or invisible restoration affect the valuation of a pot.
In 2021 she started a collaborative project bringing new life and attention to the works of Early British Columbia studio potters and their influences using the Japanese art of mending known as Kintsugi. Her project allows her to acknowledge the artistic contributions of Early BC studio potters over their lifetimes and their significance to the studio pottery movement in British Columbia. In 2022 she has been restoring some broken works of 97 year-old Heinz Laffin, that she is finding just outside of his studio on Hornby.
In 2018 Naoko relocated to Powell River, BC. Happen-chance led her to consider the Japanese restoration method of Kintsugi, where gold is used to restore and highlight breakage. Deciding to teach herself, she took up a residency at the Tidal Arts Centre in Lund, BC. She became tuned into her community and began to restore pottery.
In 2021 Naoko, Jesse Birch and Glenn Lewis held a joint exhibition ‘Imperfect Offerings’ at the Richmond Art Gallery. Along with her new works, Naoko did exquisite restorations on pottery from their collections; Hamada, Bernard Leach, Janet Darnell Leach, and works by historic BC potters, John Reeve, Glenn Lewis, Axel Ebring, Heinz Laffin, Charmian Johnson, and Mick Henry. Naoko also has a website where she has written histories and has examples of restored pieces from famous 20th C potters mainly from of the Leach/ Mingei school.
In 2022 Naoko led a very successful demonstration of Kintsugi at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Naoko has brought her extraordinary training and expertise to BC and her exquisite restorations, in particular of pottery, have ignited a long overdue conversation around how damage and imperfection, and visible or invisible restoration affect the valuation of a pot.
In 2021 she started a collaborative project bringing new life and attention to the works of Early British Columbia studio potters and their influences using the Japanese art of mending known as Kintsugi. Her project allows her to acknowledge the artistic contributions of Early BC studio potters over their lifetimes and their significance to the studio pottery movement in British Columbia. In 2022 she has been restoring some broken works of 97 year-old Heinz Laffin, that she is finding just outside of his studio on Hornby.
First name
Naoko
Last name
Fukumaru
Career dates (start and end)
2000
Place of Birth
Kyoto, Japan
Formal Education
Major Exhibitions
2021 'Imperfect Offerings', Richmond art Gallery, with Glenn Lewis and Jesse Birch
Sunzen Art Gallery, Vancouver “Reincarnation” Participation as a Kintsugi Artist Artist
- Group exhibition “Expose Yourself ” The Art Center, Powell River, BC, Canada
- “Metamorphose” Studio Curious, Powell River, BC, Canada
- “Metamorphose” Studio Curious, Powell River, BC, Canada
«The Last Supper» by Leonardo da VinciSanta Maria delle Grazie, Italy, Factum Arte, Spain. as a chief conservator and fabricator.
«The Wedding at Cana» by Paolo Veronesse, The Louvre Museum, France, Factum Arte, Spain, San Giorgio Maggiore Monastery, Italy. as a chief conservator and fabricator.
«3 Caravaggio paintings» San Luigi dei Francesi, Roma & Spain, as a chief conservator and fabricator.
Personal Website
Links to Further Resources
2022 https://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/events/kintsugi-demo-mar-14
2022 https://www.prpeak.com/living/qathet-region-artist-finds-beauty-and-strength-in-being-broken-5153138
2022 https://www.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/the_Art_of_Kintsugi.html
https://www.richmondartgallery.org/imperfect-offerings-tea-tour
Montecristo Magazine
How the Japanese Art of Golden Repair Transformed the Life of a Master Restorer
How the Japanese Art of Golden Repair Transformed the Life of a Master Restorer
https://www.prpeak.com/living/qathet-region-artist-finds-beauty-and-strength-in-being-broken-5153138
Source
Debra Sloan