About
I am an abstract artist who incorporates various media, including fiber, paper, paint, charcoal, oil pastel, soft pastel, and found objects. My creative process begins with playing with materials and letting the work reveal what it wants to become through repeated, intuitive dialogue with what unfolds in front of me, including failures and both happy and unhappy accidents.
My job is done when a piece feels like something that hatched from within and came alive on its own. Not all traces of the process may remain visible on the surface, but I believe that everything that happens in the making carries meaning—the actions, time, feelings, and presence embodied in the work, just as they do in ourselves.
Bio
Yoshiko Mukai Williamson is a Brooklyn-based abstract artist working primarily in non-representational mixed media. Her practice incorporates painting, collage, drawing, stitching, and printing, with a particular interest in layering, texture, and the unexpected possibilities that emerge through making.
She grew up in her parents’ women’s clothing store in Japan, surrounded by fabrics, threads, and sewing tools. The shop offered ready-made garments as well as custom orders and alterations, shaping her sensitivity to materials, colors, and design from an early age.
After backpacking solo through 13 countries, from China and Russia across Europe, she arrived in New York on New Year’s Day in 1994. What was meant to be a one-year stay became a life. With a background in fashion editing, graphic design, and content creation, she now runs an independent publishing studio. She has also taken continuing education courses at art institutions and universities in New York City, exploring art in various media..
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2017 “The Fall in the Lake”, Rabbit House, New York, NY
2016 ”Flowers: Listening to the Spirit, Painting with Light and Time II”, Salon Musa, New York, NY
2016 ”Flowers: Listening to the Spirit, Painting with Light and Time I”, Rabbit House, New York, NY
Group Exhibitions
Mar-May 2019 “Our Botanical World”, Big Screen Plaza, New York, NY
Mar-May 2019 “Our Botanical World”, Matted LIC, Long Island City, NY
Feb 2019 “Glimpses of Our World”, Salmagundi Art Club, New York, NY
Jul 2018 “Shofuten”, Art Gallery Blanche, Osaka, Japan
May-Aug 2018 “Our Botanical World”, Queens Botanical Garden, Queens, NY
Jul 2017 B&H Portfolio Development, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
Feb 2016 “Vision of Nature”, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, NY
Education
- B.A. In Human Behavioral Science, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan
Continuing Education
- Drawing, Painting, Color, Design with Ronnie Landfield| Art Student League, NY | 2022
- Abstract Painting with Peter Bonner | Art Student League, NY | 2022
- Print Making without Press with Sylvie Covey | Art Student League, NY | 2021
- Still Life Painting with Karen O’Neil | Art Student League, NY | 2021
- Artist’s History of Collage Painting | Cooper Union, NY |2/2021
- Abstract Watercolor Painting | Cooper Union, NY | 10/2018 – 12/2018
- Chef Training Program | Natural Gourmet Institute, NY | 5/2003 – 3/2004
- Food Styling Workshop | New School, NY | 3/2003
- Photo Essay Course | International Center of Photography, NY | 4/1996 – 6/1996
- Documentary Photography | Cooper Union, NY | 2/1996 – 4/1996
- Drawing, Figure Drawing, Painting, Basic 3D, Photography, Art History in City University of New York | Spring and Summer, 1995
- Figure Drawing| Art Student League, NY | 1994
