Katsuji Wakisaka is a Japanese textile designer.
Education
Between 1960 -1963 he studied textile design in Kyoto.
Biography
Between 1963 and 1965, he worked for Itoh, Osaka and from 1965 – 68 for Samejima, Kyoto. Between 1968 and 1976, he designed printed fabrics for Marimekko in Helsinki. From 1976 he executed patterns for printed and woven fabrications for Larsen, New York, and Wacoal Tokyo.
Marimekko (1968 – 1976)
Katsuji Wakisaka worked for Marimekko from 1968 to 1976. He was only 24 when he came to Finland and presented his portfolio to Armi Ratia. He had a playful approach to design, and Marimekko benefited immensely from the freshness of his imagery and style. Even abstract geometric patterns were treated as a game, literally so in Cross-Word (172), an ingenious fragmented checkerboard design. The condensed, flattened cartoon graphics style was one of his favourite idioms. Bo-Boo (1975) resembled children’s book illustrations with rows of brightly coloured toy trucks and cars.
Exhibitions
Wacoal fabric was the subject of a 1980 exhibition sponsored by the Japan Design Committee, and included in 1983 to 1984 ‘Design Since 1945’ exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Katsuji Wakisaka on Pinterest
Sources
Aav, M. (2003). Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture. United Kingdom: Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, New York, and the Design Museum, Finland. https://amzn.to/3nEl2FH
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
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