Keisuke Serizawa

Who was Keisuke Serizawa?

Keisuke Serizawa 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 Sōetsu. 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. In 1981, the Municipal Serizawa Keisuke Art Museum was opened in the city of Shizuoka. Another museum, the Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum was opened in 1989 in Sendai.

“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.”