Tucked away between the busy streets of Washington D.C. is the small but mighty Nishio Conservation Studio. This studio, which was been comfortably operating in their custom-made lofted space since 1995, combines aspects of traditional Japanese craftsmanship with modern Western science to provide the highest quality conservation work for their clients. Focusing primarily on conserving Asian paintings, folding screens (called byōbu), and hanging scrolls (called kakemono), the artists at Nishio’s Studio bring these artworks back to life with the utmost care and vibrancy.
Yu-Ting Hsu is a student at the Graduate Institute of Conservation of Cultural Relic and Museology at Tainan National University of Arts in Taiwan. Her specialization is in Conservation of Paper and Asian Paintings, making Nishio’s studio the perfect place for her J-1 visa program. During her internship, she learned how to approach conservation in a professional setting and how to examine and prepare paintings for treatment by making starch paste, cutting papers, and cleaning brushes. For her final project, she even made her own Japanese style scroll! When Yu-Ting was not on site at Nishio’s, she explored hiking trails in Virginia and visited the many free museums that D.C. has to offer.
Before the end of the program, the Cultural Exchange Programs team was able to visit with Yu-Ting at Nishio’s for a full day of conservation education. Did you know that in order to achieve rich blue and green colors on byōbu, artists would use crushed azurite and malachite? Now you do! Scroll on to see what else Yu-Ting shared with us.
What was a project you enjoyed working on during your program?
There is a four-panel screen from Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA). The artist is Chiura Obata. The object was in poor condition. The screen had spilt into two sections. Overall discoloration was present in the paper and foxing spots* were present throughout the panels. I took part in the whole process of conservation of the four-panel screen. We started with removing the painting from wooden border, then removing backing paper. After consolidating the color, we bleached the foxing spots and washed the painting. In the mid-October, conservators and curators from the UMFA visited studio to check the four-panel screen. They were satisfied with the after-treatment condition!
*Foxing spots are brown and rust colored spots that appear on old paper. If the paper has a certain level of iron or other substances present in it, exposure to a specific temperature and humidity will create the foxing.
What was an interesting new skill you learned on the job?
My host taught me how to make a Japanese hanging scroll. I learned a lot of Japanese mounting knowledge from the panel screen and Japanese hanging scroll, which I don’t have opportunities to learn in Taiwan. For example, the fiber of Japanese paper is longer than Chinese paper, so there are different ways in backing the paper for mounting.
What did you learn about the arts culture in America? What was your favorite cultural activity?
I had visited a lot museum, like National Gallery of Arts, Freer Gallery of Arts, and The Kreeger Museum. I saw collections that I had not seen it before. My host had arranged for me to visit the conservation lab at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Those experiences helped me to get more information not only conservation cases but also the network.
The most impressive [activity] was the concert at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. My host is involved in a band and he invited me to the performance. My favorite song in the concert was “Moon River”. I really enjoyed it!
Want to learn more about byōbu? Check out this video on the history of Japanese folding screens, directly from Nishio's Studio!