Inspired by CWAJ’s long-term mission of fostering female leadership and supporting contemporary Japanese prints through its annual exhibition, leading Italian fashion brand Loro Piana Japan is collaborating with CWAJ by donating a special award, the CWAJ Loro Piana Woman Artist Award. The recipients are chosen by CWAJ and the Selection Advisors from among the works selected for that year’s CWAJ Print Show. The award (500,000 yen) is to encourage the career of women artists in Japan and the advancement of Japanese contemporary prints.
2026 Loro Piana Woman Artist Award Recipient
NAKAMURA Mari
Born in 1988, Saitama
Residence: Saitama
Education: Musashino Art University Graduate School
Affiliation : Japan Print Association
Collections: Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo; Numazu Shoji Museum of Art, Mon Musée, Shizuoka; Sakima Art Museum, Okinawa; China Printmaking Museum, Guanlan
Artist’s comments on her work “Pattern”
The theme of this work is the significant changes that have occurred in my family structure in the past few years. Through my own marriage, the passing of my grandmother, and my sister’s marriage and motherhood, the relationships that were unchanged for many years changed dramatically. In this work, the motif is a pattern for clothing. On one side, there are patterns for adult clothes, and on the other, patterns for baby clothes and accessories, each projecting an image of a different generation and place within the family. As time passes, a person’s role within the family changes and new relationships form. By layering the patterns representing these changing forms, I visualized them and expressed the accumulation of change and time. Going forward, I will continue to use pattern-making techniques to create prints evoking the passage of time.