Yoshi Nakagawa

Born in Tacoma and raised by Japanese parents in Portland, Yoshi Nakagawa’s path to finding her artistic voice wound through multiple continents and cultures. After pulling her first print at the University of Puget Sound in 1999, she lived in Japan for two years, spent eight years in Seattle honing her craft, then made her way to Oaxaca, Mexico, where she would spend nine transformative years as a full-time visual artist. This period abroad deepened her art with layers of cultural understanding and resilience.

Since returning to Tacoma in 2021, Nakagawa has built networks within the art community that center both nature and printmaking. Her livelihood as a printmaker encompasses teaching workshops, developing programs with schools and libraries, securing grants, participating in community events, and exhibiting in galleries. Though demanding, this multifaceted approach allows her to forge meaningful connections with artists, youth, educators, curators, and her audience. Through the meditative repetition of intaglio, relief, monotype, and mixed media printmaking techniques, Nakagawa’s artwork celebrates cultural enrichment, natural beauty, and reciprocity as environmental stewards. She has exhibited and taught workshops regionally and internationally.

Headshot: Heloise Audy