Keiichi Nishimura Art

Artist Keiichi Nishimura learnt the techniques of his art through experimentation and observation of his father’s work. He was born in Kyoto, Japan, and trained under the apprenticeship of his father. Not much was spoken between his himself and father for the entire 7 years of his apprenticeship. His approach to wave imagery is quite unique and that’s what he’s known for. He uses silver and gold leaf within each of his original art. When he went to California over 30 years ago, all he saw was an old style of Asian art. He wanted to show people a new style of painting; he wanted the people to see more of what was current art in Japan where he came from. He began taking what he considered as the Japanese traditional style of art to a new place; and added his own abstract style on familiar themes. This has made framed Keiichi Nishimura to be in great demand. Even though his inspirations and themes often begin with the traditional, what results is something innovative and refreshingly new. He designs, manipulates, and enhances the images for fabric based on his paintings, while he does the artwork. The artist has shown his work extensively in Hawaii and in the San Francisco Bay area. The medium he prefers to use is a water-based pigment that he derives derived from a mineral called suihigofun, which he mixes with melted pine sap (nikawa) after grinding to a finer consistency. The pine sap is what enables the pigment to adhere to the silk and also gives its rich color.