June Sekiguchi
NWDC is pleased to share the art and ideas of June Sekiguchi. She was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Studio Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She works primarily with scroll cut wood in her studio practice making sculptures and site-specific installations. Her current work is in the public art realm.
Sekiguchi is an arts activist and advocate co-founding and participating in several non-profit and artist run spaces in the Seattle area. Sekiguchi’s interests involve social justice issues, cultural exchange, mental health, and elder communities. She is currently an independent art curator for Era Living and curates for the gallery at Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma, WA where she serves on the board. Sekiguchi is a recipient of a GAP grant and Fellowship from Artist Trust and five 4Culture grants. She has participated in residencies in the Pacific Northwest including Willapa Bay AiR, Vashon Artist Residency, and the James and Janie Washington residency, as well as abroad in Cambodia and Laos. She has exhibited extensively in the Salish Sea area including San Juan Islands Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Vashon Center for the Arts, the Wing Luke Asian Museum, and Bellevue Arts Museum. She lives in Tacoma and is represented by ArtX Contemporary in Seattle. Learn more at https://www.junesekiguchi.com/
Her latest exhibition, The Geometry of Resilience at ArtX Contemporary in Pioneer Square opens April 3, 2025. Artist Reception for First Thursday Art Walk, April 3, 5-8pm / Artist Talk, April 26, 1pm / May Reception, First Thursday Art Walk, May 1, 5-8pm / Show closes May 24.
How were you introduced to art?
Art has been my identity since my earliest memories. I was encouraged by my parents, peers, and teachers to pursue art throughout my education and received a bachelors degree in Studio Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Where do you find inspiration when creating new work?
I am always searching for metaphors to convey a concept, so going down rabbit holes of research is critical to my process. I lean into inspiration from different cultures and the natural world to feed my work.
What do you consider your greatest artistic achievement?
Life and art are interconnected, so I feel grateful that I've been able to live my life immersed in art from my studio practice, my job as curator, my service with non-profit cultural and arts programs, and "ikigai" (Japanese word for purpose in life). I am grateful to keep pursuing art in new forms, transitioning from studio work to the realm of public art. In my studio practice, I am most proud of two large scale installations I made for my mother and father when they passed. The work was packed with meaning and allowed me to process their lives and and honor them in their passing. In public art, the most challenging project I've done called "The Hidden Side of a Leaf" is also the one I am most happy with the outcome. I ran through the gauntlet with this commission and survived.
What is the quality you most like in an artist?
The willingness and thriving on curiosity to push oneself in the work.
June Sekiguchi, Visual Looming Syndrome, 13”x13”x 5”, Scroll cut engineered wood, 2024 / June Sekiguchi, Anenome, 16”x16”x9”, Scroll cut engineered wood, 2023.
Which living artist do you most admire?
Theo Jansen for merging science with art in brilliant engineering, using the natural element of wind to kinetically power otherworldly sculptures in the landscape.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I had more technical understanding and capacity for programs like photoshop to autocad to engineering to mathematics.
What is your most treasured possession?
Anything my children made/make.
Who has had a significant influence over your work?
Rather than "who," I would say "what" has been a significant influence is intentional, immersive travel to explore non-Western cultures that has an impactful and long-lasting influence in my work.
June Sekiguchi, Silkpunk Transport, 4’x10’x10’, Enamel on router cut engineered wood, LED lights, 2023, King Street Station, Office of Arts & Culture / June Sekiguchi, Hidden Side of a Leaf , 12’x23’x4’, Powder coated steel 2024, Redmond, adjacent to Marymoor Park
How has your studio practice changed?
With moving to Tacoma and achieving housing/studio security, I have more dedicated studio time and flexibility in the day to work. Public art is an entirely different practice from the studio and while I find public art a welcomed challenge, my natural happy state is in the studio fabricating my own work.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The supportive atmosphere of artist residencies provide the time and space in amazing settings to reflect on ideas, experiment, and produce art. Traveling for art is my perfect happiness, though I'm always happy to come home to my community and my studio to process what I learned from traveling.
