The remarkable Kay Sekimachi turns 100 today. We’ve gathered birthday greetings from friends and fans around the world. Best wishes for a wonderful day, Kay — thank you for being a source of inspiration and awe to us all.
Kay,
It has been an honor and a delight to promote your work all these many years, exceeded only by the pleasure of the friendship we’ve enjoyed with you and Bob. The Napa Valley, Chez Panisse, Connecticut visits, barley tea, photo sessions, and art chats: we’ve loved them all. 100 years and still an inspiration! Our very best wishes on your milestone birthday!
Hugs,
Tom and Rhonda
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Kay since graduate school days, initially through her husband Bob (my first-ever curatorial project was on wood turning). The Marriage in Form piece they made together were my first introduction to her work, and they remain among my favorites – a characteristically elegant way of imbuing emotion into still materiality. To me, this combination of understatement and powerful expression is the hallmark of Kay’s work. Everything she makes is resonant, as a musical instrument might be; and like some musicians, she is gifted with perfect pitch. On this auspicious occasion, I would like to my voice to that of so many others, and thank her for all the wonder and beauty she has brought into the world.
Best wishes,
Glenn Adamson
Happy Happy 100th Birthday to you Kay
I first saw your work in the book beyond craft: the art fabric back in the 70s Exploratory and inspiring it has been on my mind ever since.
Thank you for your Life and Creativity!
Sending love from the North of England
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
Sue Lawty
Dear Kay-san, Happy 100th Birthday!!
I remember your warmth on the day when Yoshiko Wada took me to your house in1998. It was the moment my-dream-come-true to see your studio where you have been creating magical ephemeral hangings and basket-like double woven vessel forms. I found your studio and home was organized just in the same sense of beauty as your work. Here I am looking back into your pages in the catalog of Fiber Works: America and Japan exhibited in 1977 at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art. Amiyose illustrated in the catalog intrigued me so much that since then I dreamed of visiting the artist with a Japanese name. Unfortunately, I did not see the exhibition because I lived in New York city from 1975 till1979. I found an article on the show in Japanese newspaper and asked my mother to send me the catalog from Japan. So, this catalog reminds me of my mother who encouraged me and lived a long life over 100 as well as you who welcomed me at Berkeley. More recently I saw your work in Women Artists and Postwar Abstractions exhibited in 2017 at MoMA. And the catalog of Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction has pages of discussion on your work. I have been learning a lot from you again and again. I wish you a happy birthday along with my long-time appreciation to your art.
Hisako Sekijima in Yokohama, Japan.
Please wish Kay a basketful of wonderful wishes from me and let her know how wonderful it has been to see all of her beautiful work over all these years!
Thank you, Nancy Koenigsberg
The world is a brighter place with you, Kay. Your creativity has blessed all of us in the art and textile community!
I hope you have a very beautiful day!
Warmly, Jennifer Falck Linssen
Dear Kay,
We have never met personally, but I feel like I know you through your art. You are one of the artists who has inspired me, particularly in how you are able to express yourself through the quietest of means.
Congratulations on this monumental birthday.
Warmly, Scott Rothstein
For Kay Sekimachi
So many of us are celebrating your century birthday, you, and your art. You have touched many hearts and inspired and encouraged a multitude of creative people. Your contribution to the art world is important and long lasting. I, and I know others, send you greetings on this momentous birthday. With much affection, admiration, and appreciation,
Gyöngy Laky
All best wishes to you, dear Kay, for a grand 100th birthday celebration!
How I have treasured your friendship since organizing the 1993 retrospective Marriage in Form: Kay Sekimachi & Bob Stocksdale for the Palo Alto Art Center (then Palo Alto Cultural Center.) All the staff cheered when the NEA funded the exhibit and publication. What a thrill to see how venues across the country mounted the exhibit. Ted Cohen’s installation design at the American Craft Museum in New York was breathtaking and that great unfurling banner on the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C. was a fabulous introduction.
Your weavings with translucent panes are so much air and inspiration. After all this time, it still mystifies me how you could envision a double weave structure for the loom for your eloquent monofilaments after seeing an exhibit of jellyfish. You said that you felt like an explorer creating the monofilaments and, indeed, it was, and it will continue to be, uncharted territory. You are a master of complex weave structures. Organizing the dual retrospective exhibition and 212-page book In the Realm of Nature: Bob Stocksdale & Kay Sekimachi for the Mingei International Museum, San Diego, in 2014, presented an opportunity to relay more of your personal story and the journey of your mastery of complex weave structures and subtle innovations, while featuring over 60 of your pieces.
The snapshot above, was taken at the 2021 major survey Kay Sekimachi: Geometries at the Berkeley Art Museum. Such continued recognition, acquisitions by major museums, and other accolades are quite a testament to your creative pursuits despite origins in adversity. And now, you are truly a beloved centenarian, whose work will continue to inspire.
Happy Birthday, dear Kay!!!!
Signe Mayfield
Happy, Happy Birthday!
Your work has been such a joy to live with and an inspiration for my own ceramic work; your experimentation and expressions of form and silhouette, the different materials you work with and your passion for creating (And Bob’s forms literally inspire my porcelain shapes directly some days!) I have enjoyed our visits over the years and feel so honored to have spent time with you and talked about your work in the midst of your incredible, personal collections. Thank you for your incredible art and joyful spirit!
With Love, Lisa Fleming
Kay Sekimachi’s work and life are defined by her steadfast devotion to material experimentation, to her grace with fiber and paper, and to her delight in beauty. I have been honored to spend time working with her, and my most favorite memories are looking at her shell collection, gathered on beaches over decades, and viewing her works in the “exhibition closet” and around her home. No matter if looking at a weaving or a shell, when you say to her, “Kay, this is so beautiful,” she always replies with a drawn out,“I knoooowwww.” This is how I think of Kay: reveling in the beauty of her life. I am forever grateful to her for showing me how to see. She is a marvel.
All my best to you, Jenelle Porter
Happy Birthday Kay!!
Your works are hung in SF as they should be!
Happy Centennial!!
All best, Diana Bowes
Kay,
Thank you for being a long standing San Francisco Bay Area resident. You have stood for self-identity, a vibrant art community, and cultural diversity. We are proud of you.
Happy Birthday! With admiration, Lyanne Melendez
How does one spend a century of life? Kay wove together an unexpected world and for many years was a devoted wife. One hundred years is just a beginning…. looking forward to artistic endeavors beyond the ninth inning.
All good wishes upon your first century, Helen Drutt
A big Happy Birthday to Kay!
Would have loved to meet her…congrats to you Kay!
Thanks again for doing the show with us! Andrew Kreps
I love my basket!!
Thank you!!! Helen Kornblum
Congratulations Kay on your 100 birthday.
You look gorgeous and so is your work. They continue to be innovative and beautiful. Looking forward to your next century working with thread.
Much love, Kiyomi Iwata
Great day, Kay! Hooray!
Lou Grotta
I want to make a toast to you Kay, to celebrate your miraculous life!
Much Love, Ferne Jacobs
Dear Kay,
It was lovely to meet you at the Spring exhibition at browngrotta arts in 2018, and I send you greetings on this significant birthday and hope you enjoy a wonderful day!
best wishes,
I hope the upcoming exhibition goes really well, many thanks, Gizella Warburton
Dear Kay Sekimachi, Happy 100th Birthday!
You may not remember this but years ago you sent me a note complimenting me about a show I was in. I was so pleased to receive a message from you and I wrote back to thank you for your kindness to a younger artist. I was and still am an admirer of your work and your life. And I still have your note. All best wishes on this marvelous occasion!
Sincerely, Mary Merkel-Hess
Dear Kay,
A very Happy Big Birthday, may you continue to create memorable and beautiful art. You are truly a unique artist. All the best for many more birthdays,
Norma Minkowitz
Happy Birthday!
Your beautiful work has been a constant source of inspiration and pleasure. Thank you.
Best wishes, Dail Behennah
Dear Kay:
You have been an inspiration to many of us for years. And I look forward to your next work too!
With admiration and respect, Dawn (MacNutt)💗