Serizawa Keisuke

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Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984) was a Japanese textile designer. In 1956, he was designated as a Living National Treasure for his katazome stencil dyeing technique by the Japanese government. Serizawa visited Okinawa several times and learned the Ryūkyū bingata techniques of dyeing. Serizawa was also a leading member of the mingei movement founded by Yanagi Soetsu. His folk art includes kimono, paper prints, wall scrolls, folding screens, curtains, fans and calendars. Serizawa has also produced numerous masterpieces in illustrated books including Don Quixote, Vincent van Gogh and A Day at Mashiko. 1981, the Municipal Serizawa Keisuke Art Museum was opened in Shizuoka, Shizuoka. Another museum, the Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum was opened 1989 in Sendai, Miyagi

“The distinguishing trait of Serizawa’s katazome method is the use of the starch mixture to create, not a colored area as is current in direct-dyeing process, but a blank, undyed one that forms a part of the pattern and that can later be colored by hand in multi-color or monochrome as the designer sees fit.”

Keisuke Serizawa, The Stencil Artist, Volume1. Tokyo, Tsukiji Shokan Publishing Company , Ltd., distributed by the Maruzen Co., Ltd, 1967.