Biography

Sakuho Ito

Sakuho Ito (b. 1989, Shimane, Japan) is an artist based in Yamanashi whose practice centers on handmade washi paper and material-based abstraction.

After studying textile art at Musashino Art University and training at the Sekishu Washi Studio in Shimane, Ito developed her original “Sabi-Washi” technique. Combining handmade washi with earth, iron sand, metals, mineral pigments, and suihi pigments, she creates large-scale works that emerge through a process of dialogue between material, body, and place.

Working across painting, papermaking, and site-specific installation, Ito incorporates materials gathered from particular landscapes and cultural contexts, creating works that reflect the relationship between people and the environments they inhabit.

In 2023, she dedicated Worship of Life to Izumo Taisha. In 2024, her Worship of Blue series became part of the permanent collection of JANU Tokyo. Through her practice, Ito continues to expand her exploration of material, place, and cultural memory within contemporary art.

Expression and Philosophy

My practice begins with a dialogue with natural materials such as washi paper, mineral pigments, iron sand, earth, and water.

The washi paper that serves as the foundation of my work is handmade from kozo fibers and produced through my own papermaking process, incorporating earth, metals, and minerals directly into the paper itself. Rooted in childhood experiences of spending time in nature, my work explores the cycle of life, perspectives on life and death, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world.

At the core of my practice is an interest in the presence embedded within materials. Washi, earth, mineral pigments, and iron sand carry the climate, history, and cultural memory of the places from which they originate. Through a physical engagement with these materials, I seek to access forms of perception that exist beyond language.

In recent years, I have turned to Shinto thought as a framework for exploring the relationships between humans and nature, body and land, and the visible and invisible dimensions of existence.

For me, the act of making is itself a form of worship—an act of listening. My works do not begin with a predetermined image; rather, they emerge through the relationships between material, body, and place.

Just as modern Western artists engaged with Zen thought to explore concepts such as nothingness and infinity, I draw inspiration from the spiritual relationship between people and nature that has long existed in Japan. Through my practice, I seek to translate experiences, memories, and forms of belief into an abstract visual language, exploring how they might be embodied through material, color, and composition.

Through abstraction, I attempt not simply to represent these experiences, but to engage with them through the act of making itself. Drawing upon both Japanese and Western histories of abstraction, I continue to explore how painting can give form to a sense of reverence, belief, and connection between humanity and the natural world.

Main Activities

2017: Sekishu Washi Kubota Training (2017.09 – 2018.08) / Shimane, Japan
2021: Seto Inland Sea Project — SEABRIDGE / Hiroshima, Japan
2023: Izumo Taisha Shrine / Kitajima Kokusokan / Mankusen Shrine — Dedication of work-in-residence / Shimane, Japan
2023: Himigozaki Shrine — Dedication / Shimane, Japan
2024: Worship in Blue series — Permanent installation at JANU Tokyo / Tokyo, Japan
2025: Arakura Fujisengen Shrine — Dedication / Yamanashi, Japan

Major Solo Exhibitions

2021: “Circle of Waves” — Hankyu Men’s Tokyo / Tokyo, Japan
2022: Exhibition Domain of Art 28 “ORIGIN” — Saitama City Plaza North / Saitama, Japan
2024: “BEGINNING of WORSHIP — First Beheld the Blue” — Tokyo International Gallery / Tokyo, Japan
2024: “YESTERDAY, A WILD TANUKI WAS FOUND DEAD UNDER THE EAVES” — anonymous bldg. / Tokyo, Japan

Major Group Exhibitions

2016: “MITSUKOSHI ART CUBE” — Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi / Tokyo, Japan
2016: “Paper God” — Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum / Tokyo, Japan
2018: “Tokyo Phantom World” — Dali Art Center Taichung / Taiwan
2019: “Gravity” — Hotel Gajoen Tokyo / Tokyo, Japan
2020: “Tour” / “Rust Beat” — Hotel Gajoen Tokyo Hyakudan Staircase / Tokyo, Japan
2025: “Hitsugi II” / “YESTERDAY, A WILD TANUKI WAS FOUND DEAD UNDER THE EAVES” — Taipei Dangdai 2025 / Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center / Taiwan

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