Artwork copyright Aki Sogabe. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Aki Sogabe. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

April Moon, 1994

Aki Sogabe
Japanese (born 1945)

Location: Lake Spokane Elementary, Nine Mile Falls

About the Artwork

Northwest artist Aki Sogabe creates her works using "Kiri-e," a traditional Japanese technique in which compositions are constructed through intricately cut paper. This piece portrays a stylized nightscape and plays with light and pattern to depict rocks, trees and flowing water.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Nine Mile Falls School District.

About the Artist

Sogabe was in middle school when she made her first paper-cut artworks. She studied design and illustration at the Japan Art Institute. In 1978, she moved to the U.S. and introduced kiri-e to the Pacific Northwest. She is also an award-winning children's book illustrator. Her public art is installed in Seattle's Pike Place Market (panels showing the history of Japanese American farmers), the "Dragon Tower" at Uwajimaya Village in Seattle, and other sites in Washington State. She lives in Bellevue, Western Washington.