Mira Nakashima-Yarnall (born 1942) is an architect and furniture maker. She is the daughter of George Nakashima and is now the President and Creative Director for George Nakashima, Woodworker.

Early life and education

Nakashima was born in 1942 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. When Mira was six months old, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was sent alongside her parents to the

Minidoka War Relocation Center Minidoka National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the western United States. It commemorates the more than 13,000 Japanese Americans who were imprisoned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center during the Second World War.

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. During their imprisonment, her father George learned woodworking under master carpenter Gentaro Hikogawa. In 1943 the family was sponsored by architect

Antonin Raymond Antonin Raymond (or cs, Antonín Raymond), born as Antonín Reimann (10 May 1888 – 25 October 1976)"Deaths Elsewhere", ''Miami Herald'', 30 October 1976, p. 10 was a Czech American architect. Raymond was born and studied in Bohemia (now part ...

to be released from the camp, and they relocated to New Hope, Pennsylvania. An image from 1945 shows the Nakashima family gathered for dinner in their Pennsylvania home. Nakashima was interested in studying music or languages, but her father urged her to follow in his footsteps and study

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. She attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and received a Bachelors of Art degree in 1963. She went on to receive a master's degree in Architecture from Waseda University in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Woodworking career

Nakashima began her woodworking career in 1970 when her father offered her a job in his furniture making workshop and built her a home across the road. Of working with her father, Nakashima states "I was pretty much the understudy... I can't count the number of times I was fired while Dad was alive. It was very good discipline." Over time, Nakashima learned to build all of her father's designs. When George died in 1990 she took over the furniture making business, continuing to produce his designs as well as her own. Nakashima picked up right where her father left off, continuing his tradition as well as exploring some new possibilities. In addition to the foundational philosophies of George Nakashima to create forms that are reminiscent to the trees, Mira Nakashima instilled the importance of collaboration among the woodworkers and artisans work. In 2003, Nakashima published a book titled ''Nature, Form & Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima'' which coincided with a documentary film and an exhibit of George Nakashima work at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego. In 2001, Nakashima held an exhibition at Moderne Gallery in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

showcasing her father's original work alongside new works created under her supervision. "''The Keisho Collection: Continuity and Change in the Nakashima Tradition"'' was the first catalogue of works designed and produced by Mira Nakashima and was meant to show the new direction in the Nakashima Studio. Work from the Keisho collection have been exhibited at Mingei International Museum in San Diego, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Idaho, and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. In 2003, she designed and produced chairs for the Concordia Chamber Players, which are now sold as the Concordia Chair in the Nakashima line. She displayed work at the Moderne Gallery again in September 2013, in an exhibition titled "Nakashima Woodworkers: An Evolving Legacy." In 2019 she curated a show at the Michener Art Museum titled "Nakashima Looks: Studio Furniture at the Michener." The exhibition featured her own work alongside work by Wharton Esherick, Isamu Noguchi, Harry Bertoia, Phillip Lloyd Powell, Paul Evans, and

Noémi Raymond Noémi Pernessin Raymond (also spelled Noemi; June 23, 1889 – August 19, 1980) was a French-born American artist and designer who spent much of her career in Japan. Her work included painting, sculpture, graphic design and illustration, fur ...

. A piece that was displayed at the exhibition titled "Tsuitate Sofa," exemplifies Nakashima's intricate approach to woodworking, while still keeping true to her father's sense of design. In 2020, she collaborated with architect John Heah to produce furniture for the Connaught Grill in London. Nakashima and her studio were featured in Nick Offerman's 2016 book ''Good Clean Fun''.

Personal life

Her daughter, Maria, is an architect living in Winnipeg.

References

External links

Oral history interview with Mira Nakashima, 2010 March 11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakashima, Mira 1942 births Living people 20th-century American architects 20th-century American women 21st-century American architects American furniture designers American furniture makers American people of Japanese descent American women architects American woodworkers Architects from Pennsylvania Harvard University alumni Japanese-American internees Waseda University alumni Women woodworkers