Keiko Amenomori-Schmeisser: A Journey in Textiles highlights the artist’s career from the late 1970s to 2025.The works displayed will exemplify Keiko’s rich Japanese heritage and the influence of the Australian landscape on her highly individual aesthetic.
Curated by Peter Haynes.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Ashiya, Japan in 1949, Amenomori-Schmeisser divided her childhood and early adult years between Japan and Germany. Her father was involved in the textile trade and she grew up with a keen interest in textiles, an interest that was to become a lifelong commitment. From 1974 to 1978 she studied Textile Design, graduating from the Hamburg Academy of Fine Art in 1979. In that same year she moved to Canberra with her husband, internationally renowned printmaker, Jörg Schmeisser. From that time to her recent death (2026) she lived in Australia but continued to regularly take extended visits to Japan. Amenomori-Schmeisser maintained a deep commitment to Japanese textile techniques, particularly indigo dyeing and shibori, throughout her working life. The incorporation of these into her love of the Australian landscape has resulted in a beautiful body of work exemplifying the creative possibilities of considered cultural elision.
National collections include: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT; Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT; Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra, ACT; Canberra Museum and Gallery, Canberra, ACT; University of Canberra Art Collection, Canberra, ACT: Orange Regional Gallery.
International collections include: Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan; Museum fȕr Kunst und Gewerbe, HAmbuerg, Germany; Tokyo Technical Institute, Japan.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Cowra-based Peter Haynes is an established curator, writer and visual arts historian. Since 1978 he has worked in the museum/gallery sector with occasional forays into academia. He has lectured extensively on the visual arts and heritage, curated over 250 exhibitions, and is widely published with over 300 publications nationally and internationally.
IMAGE Keiko Amenomori-Schmeisser, Nightfall, 2018 shibori, natural indigo dye on lined
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