2005
Gift of the artist, 2012.038.0008

Eiko Okano has been a leading quilt artist in Japan since the 1980s. After learning patchwork from preeminent quiltmaker Chuck Nohara, she founded the quilt school, “Basket,” where she currently teaches regularly. 

“Eiko Okano has established herself in Japan as a quilt artist with a unique, comparatively exuberant style. For a long time, Japanese quiltmakers were best known for impeccable workmanship and faithful reproductions of traditional American quilt styles and formats. Early on, Okano veered away from that path and pursued her own vision—she’s a bit of a maverick, you might say. That's someone whose work we want to show in order to represent the breadth of Japanese quiltmaking.”
- Curator of Collections Marin Hanson

In 1988, she received the Grand Prix Award from the magazine Watashi no Heya in their 100th Issue Special. In 1994, she was selected for the “20 Japanese Quilts” feature in the Asahi Newspaper. Since 1999, Okano-san has exhibited in nearly every prestigious Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival and has shown her quilts across Japan as well as internationally.

“Sea bream, both raw and cooked, is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. It is considered a particularly lucky dish at New Year’s because its name, tai, is also part of the word for “Auspicious and joyous.” 
- Eiko Okano’s Delectable World

Her “Beautiful Day” series features kimonos embellished in various ways, including with applique, rick-rack, and ribbon. The IQCM has three pieces from this series in its collection. All three appear in Eiko Okano’s Delectable World, her first solo exhibition at the International Quilt Museum. She will give a free public lecture at the museum on Friday, April 6, 2018, at 5:30 p.m.

See highlights from the exhibition in this video.