Ronin Gallery is pleased to welcome Toru Ishii, the 2026 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence, for an upcoming exhibition running from July 8th to August 6th of contemporary textile works that bring new life to one of Japan’s most celebrated artistic traditions: yūzen dyeing.

Developed during the Edo period, yūzen is a Japanese textile dyeing technique known for vivid color, intricate designs, and the use of paste-resist methods. Traditionally used to decorate silk kimono and obi, yūzen transformed fabric into a richly painted surface, often filled with landscapes, flowers, birds, seasonal motifs, and elegant patterns. In Ishii’s hands, this historic technique becomes a contemporary art form, bridging the refined world of Japanese textile design with the movement, color, and energy of modern Tokyo.

Ishii’s practice focuses on itome yūzen, a highly specialized form of yūzen sometimes translated as “thread-line yūzen .” The name refers to the delicate hand-drawn lines of resist paste that separate areas of color and create the crisp white contours that define the finished image. Labor-intensive and entirely hand-applied, Itome yūzen requires exceptional precision, patience, and control. Through this process, Ishii preserves the cultural heritage of Japanese resist-dyeing while expanding its possibilities as a contemporary visual language.

His work has earned international recognition and is included in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, one of the world’s leading museums of art and design.

The itome yūzen process begins with white fabric. Using aobana, a blue dye made from the Asiatic dayflower, the artist sketches the composition directly onto the cloth. A resist paste known as itome nori is then applied along the drawn lines. This paste acts as a barrier, preventing adjacent dyes from bleeding into one another. Once the paste has dried, color is applied by hand to individual sections of the design. The fabric is then steamed to set the dyes.

Additional resist is applied to protect completed areas of the composition, as well as any sections intended to remain white. The background is then dyed with a base color, followed by a second steaming to fix the colors. Finally, the fabric is carefully washed, removing the rice paste and revealing the delicate white lines that define each shape, contour, and field of color.

Each of Ishii’s works reflects countless hours of meticulous craftsmanship and a deep knowledge of techniques passed down through generations. In his Tokyo Landscape series, Ishii turns the historic language of itome yūzen toward the contemporary city. Buildings, streets, signage, light, and motion become part of a living textile landscape, offering viewers a rare opportunity to experience the dynamic beauty of Japanese textile art today.

Through Toru Ishii’s work, itome yūzen is not only preserved—it is transformed. His textiles honor the history of Japanese dyeing while opening new possibilities for contemporary art, craft, and design.