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Winston Wächter Fine Art is pleased to present Homecoming, a solo exhibition of new works on paper by artist Etsuko Ichikawa. This exhibition marks an artistic and personal return, showcasing Ichikawa’s latest body of work created in Washington in summer of 2025, in her signature technique which she first discovered at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington in the summer of 2004.
While at working Pilchuck as a glass sculptural artist, Ichikawa dropped molten glass onto a concrete floor, leaving behind unexpectedly beautiful burn marks. This accident revealed to her a new way of composing with molten glass as brush, and fire as ink. This started an exploration spanning 20 years, drawing with flame, where heat leaves behind charred, gestural tracings, capturing movement and form. Each work eternalizes fleeting moments, inviting viewers to witness fire’s transformation of matter into mark.
For Ichikawa, Homecoming is more than a return to a medium, it is a return to place. Seattle was her adult home for 30 years, where she established her practice and forged deep ties through art and activism. Following the pandemic, she left the Northwest for residencies across Europe, the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and finally returning to Japan, her birthplace, to reconnect with family.
Her first exhibition in Washington over two decades ago introduced audiences to her pyrograph works on paper. Her current exhibition, Homecoming, brings the practice full circle, presenting a new series created in Seattle, though her studio has returned to Japan. These works demonstrate our paths are never linear, but fluid.
