Tamiko Kawata

Tamiko Kawata was born in Kobe, Japan. She trained to be a sculptor at Tokyo University and then went on to study glass. In 1961, she moved to New York, hoping to work in glass but soon learned that fine glass designs were largely imported into the United States from other countries. She then discovered the safety pin as material for her design work, and this object would launch her career in America.

In 2006, Tamiko Kawata received a Pollack-Krasner Foundation grant. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, including a solo show at the Hudson Guild Gallery, New York in 2003. Her work can be found in the collections of LongHouse Reserve, New York; Lloyd Casten Collection, California; Jack Lenor Larsen Collection, New York; and Buenno Premesela Art Collection, Holland.