Mira Nakashima

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Mira Nakashima-Yarnell
Born
Seattle, Washington
Alma materHarvard University (AB 1963), Waseda University Tokyo
Known forFurniture Maker and Architect
Websitehttps://nakashimawoodworkers.com/

Mira Nakashima-Yarnell (born 1942) is an architect and furniture maker. She is the daughter of George Nakashima and is now the President and Creative Director for George Nakashima, Woodworker.[1][2]

Early life and education

Nakashima was born in 1942 in Seattle, Washington.[3] When Mira was six months old, during World War II, she was sent alongside her parents to the Minidoka War Relocation Center[4] in Idaho.[3] During their imprisonment, her father George learned woodworking under master carpenter Gentaro Hikogawa. In 1943 the family was sponsored by architect Antonin Raymond to be released from the camp, and they relocated to New Hope, Pennsylvania.[5][6] An image from 1945 shows the Nakashima family gathered for dinner in their Pennsylvania home.[7]

Nakashima was interested in studying music or languages, but her father urged her to follow in his footsteps and study Architecture. She attended Harvard University and received a Bachelors of Art degree in 1963.[8] She went on to receive a master's degree in Architecture from Waseda University in Tokyo.[9][10]

Conoid Chair by George Nakashima, 1988. Mira Nakashima still produces the Conoid Chair and it is currently their most popular piece.[11]

Woodworking career

Nakashima began her woodworking career in 1970 when her father offered her a job in his furniture making workshop and built her a home across the road. Of working with her father, Nakashima states "I was pretty much the understudy... I can't count the number of times I was fired while Dad was alive. It was very good discipline."[9][3] Over time, Nakashima learned to build all of her father's designs. When George died in 1990 she took over the furniture making business, continuing to produce his designs as well as her own.[1][12][3][13][14]

Nakashima picked up right where her father left off, continuing his tradition as well as exploring some new possibilities.[3] In addition to the foundational philosophies of George Nakashima to create forms that are reminiscent to the trees, Mira Nakashima instilled the importance of collaboration among the woodworkers and artisans work.[15][11] In 2003, Nakashima published a book titled Nature, Form & Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima which coincided with a documentary film and an exhibit of George Nakashima work at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.[16] In 2001, Nakashima held an exhibition at Moderne Gallery in Philadelphia showcasing her father's original work alongside new works created under her supervision. "The Keisho Collection: Continuity and Change in the Nakashima Tradition" was the first catalogue of works designed and produced by Mira Nakashima and was meant to show the new direction in the Nakashima Studio.[17] Work from the Keisho collection[18] have been exhibited at Mingei International Museum in San Diego, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Idaho, and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. In 2003, she designed and produced chairs for the Concordia Chamber Players, which are now sold as the Concordia Chair in the Nakashima line.[19][10][20] She displayed work at the Moderne Gallery again in September 2013, in an exhibition titled "Nakashima Woodworkers: An Evolving Legacy."[21] In 2019 she curated a show at the Michener Art Museum titled "Nakashima Looks: Studio Furniture at the Michener." The exhibition featured her own work alongside work by Wharton Esherick, Isamu Noguchi, Harry Bertoia, Phillip Lloyd Powell, Paul Evans, and Noémi Raymond.[22][23] A piece that was displayed at the exhibition titled "Tsuitate Sofa," exemplifies Nakashima's intricate approach to woodworking, while still keeping true to her father's sense of design.[24] In 2020, she collaborated with architect John Heah to produce furniture for the Connaught Grill in London.[25]

Nakashima and her studio were featured in Nick Offerman's 2016 book Good Clean Fun.[3]

Personal life

Her daughter, Maria, is an architect living in Winnipeg.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Rae, Andy (June 26, 2018). "Mira Nakashima - Full Interview". www.woodcraft.com. Retrieved 2019-10-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "A Furniture Designer Who Listened to the Spirit of the Wood". Hyperallergic. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Offerman, Nick, 1970- (2016). Good clean fun : misadventures in sawdust at Offerman Woodshop. New York, New York. ISBN 9781101984659. OCLC 939704864.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Japanese American Internee Data File: Mira Nakashima". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  5. ^ "The scars of internment camp never completely healed for American furniture-maker Mira Nakashima". www.pri.org. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  6. ^ Lange, Alexandra (2017-01-31). "The forgotten history of Japanese-American designers' World War II internment". Curbed. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  7. ^ Title: The Nakashima family and Mrs. Nakashima's father and sister from Minidoka enjoy an informal supper around a low table in; Date: 1945-05; Collection: War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement; Owning Institution: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library; Source: Calisphere; Date of access: October 18, 2019 15:37; Permalink: image
  8. ^ "Alumni Community Video | Stories". Harvard Alumni. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  9. ^ a b "Craft in America » Mira Nakashima". www.craftinamerica.org. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  10. ^ a b Lauria, Jo (2007). Craft in America : celebrating two centuries of artists and objects. Fenton, Steve., Fairbanks, Jonathan L., Coir, Mark. (1st ed.). New York: Clarkson Potter. pp. 59, 265. ISBN 978-0-307-34647-6. OCLC 74029341.
  11. ^ a b "Profiles: Mira Nakashima - Full Interview". www.woodcraft.com. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  12. ^ Hallmark, Kara Kelley. (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian American artists. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313334511. OCLC 77767087.
  13. ^ "Interview with Mira Nakashima – OEN". 26 October 2012. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  14. ^ "Mira Nakashima · BGC Craft, Art & Design Oral History Project". bgccraftartdesign.org. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  15. ^ "History & Team". George Nakashima Woodworkers. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  16. ^ "Product". ABRAMS. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  17. ^ "Moderne Gallery Examines Designing Nature George Nakashima". ModerneGallery.com. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Mira Nakashima, Keisho III, USA, 2003". Todd Merrill Studio. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  19. ^ "Concordia Chair". George Nakashima Woodworkers. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  20. ^ "Concordia Chair". The Center for Art in Wood. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  21. ^ Margolies, Jane (2013-09-04). "Mira Nakashima: Not Far From the Tree". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  22. ^ "Response disturbances due to mixing consoles and studio furniture", Recording Studio Design, Routledge, pp. 436–446, 2013-04-26, doi:10.4324/9780080474151-25, ISBN 9780080474151, retrieved 2021-10-13
  23. ^ Rodney, Seph (2019-07-01). "A Furniture Designer Who Listened to the Spirit of the Wood". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  24. ^ "Tsuitate Sofa". George Nakashima Woodworkers. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  25. ^ "Online astronomy database gets a refresh". Physics Today. 2018-01-09. doi:10.1063/pt.6.1.20180109a. ISSN 1945-0699.

External links

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