Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse

March 1 – June 1, 2025

The Japanese kimono is one of the world’s most admired garments—an instantly recognizable robe with a tall “T” form. The word kimono, meaning “a thing that is worn,” refers to many different types of robes, from ornate silk wedding uchikake to simpler cotton summer yukata. Worn in Japan for over 1,000 years, the kimono has served as a canvas for remarkable creativity. This exhibition showcases woven, dyed, painted, printed, and embroidered designs by historic Japanese textile artists alongside contemporary artworks—made in glass, paper, metal, ceramic and other materials—from around the world, all inspired by the kimono. After the mid-nineteenth century, when Japan opened to foreign diplomacy and trade with the United States and Europe, the kimono also became beloved in the West: a subject for painters and an inspiration for fashion designers.

Michael F. Rohde, Fall/Nara, 2001, hand-dyed wool on linen warp

Maria Papatzelou, Second Skin, 2000, Japanese handmade paper (washi), pigments, gold leaf, collage with maps and aquarelle pencils

Kristine Aono, Rope Kimono II, 1996, Rope, fabric, DesignCast plaster, wire mesh, Japanese and North American maple leaves, wood, polystyrene, pigment

Thanks to the members, donors, grantors, and sponsors who support exhibitions and programs.

Exhibitions and programs are supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Marketing is supported in part by City of Wausau Room Tax funds.

Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse and its tour is organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC in collaboration with the Curator, Meher McCarthur.