Artwork copyright Aki Sogabe. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2000.

Mountain Road II, 2000

Aki Sogabe
Japanese (born 1945)

Location: Thunder Mountain Middle School, Enumclaw

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 atmospheric landscape evokes a stylized scene of autumn along a misty mountain road.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Enumclaw 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.