KINOSHITA Taika was born in Hiroshima in 1957. He graduated from Sokei Academy of Fine Arts in 1980 and completed a print-making graduate course a year later.   In 1993 he went to Europe on the Agency of Cultural Affairs study program.

Since his first exhibition in 1980, as part of the Japan Print Association exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, he has had numerous exhibitions, mainly in Japan.  He has also participated in many international print competitions and has won several prizes, the most recent one being the Grand Prize at the AGART World Print Festival in Slovenia in 1998.  He has been invited to take part in the CWAJ Annual Print Show in Tokyo for fifteen years.

Kinoshita's prints are woodblock prints, but his technique is unusual in that he uses a process (known as concavo-convex) similar to the collagraph process.  For a start, he uses the rough surface of the back side of the woodblock.  This means he can incorporate various patterns such as knots, wood grains, and joints, as part of the imagery in his works.  Sometimes, texture is created on the surface of the block by using a patty or gesso.  By dropping undiluted varnish directly on the block, an image of water drops or other fluid expressions is possible.  In contrast to a woodblock technique, fine lines are then cut into the block to give the impression of a drawing.  The intaglio method is then used for printing the image, i.e. the block is inked and then wiped, so that the ink is held only in the groves.  To transfer the image from the block to the paper, a woodblock press is used to apply an even pressure. Every process has to be handled swiftly so that the paints do not dry up.

Collections

Library of Congress, Washington, USA
Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Israel
Miyazaki Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan
Higashihiroshima City Museum of Art, Hiroshima, Japan
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Japan
The Haifa Japan Art Collection, Israel