Misako Nakahira is a Japanese tapestry artist and lecturer. Her practice includes paper weaving, tapestry, ikat, felting, macramé, and yarn spinning. Most recently Misako’s practice has focused on the genealogy of stripes interrogated through tapestry. Nakahira weaves her tapestries with spun wash paper, cotton, and other materials that are ‘familiar to life.’ She believes that the hand-woven details breathe life into the cloth. Nakahira’s use of a white colour palette heightens the effect of the details and allows us to form our own interpretations.

Misako Nakahira has a Bachelor of Textiles and a Masters of Mixed Media from the Kyoto University of Art and Design where she now teaches. Solo exhibitions include at GalleryGallery, Art Spot Korin and Gallery Keifu, Kyoto. In 2019 she was selected for an exhibition, ‘Kyoto Art for Tomorrow’ at the Kyoto Museum of Culture. In 2018 she won the New Japan Crafts Encouragement Prize at the Tokyo National Art Center. In 2021 she was selected for the prestigious Cordis Prize and ATW’s Irene Davies Award for Small Tapestries.

During her residency Misako is interested in learning more about the complexity of the colour mixing and expression of depth achieved by the ATW weavers in tapestry to further her own weaving techniques.