Ratamo enchanted me from the first moment I entered the space: the exhibition area was just amazing, pure, and perfect. My exhibition was just being installed, and, to my big surprise, it was done by one of the greatest printmakers I know, Naoji Ishiyama.
Naoji Ishiyama is a Japanese artist living in Finland, and our paths first crossed in 2017, when the Brussels-based printmaking atelier KASBA celebrated its 20th anniversary with an international exhibition gathering 20 printmaking artists from 10 countries, among them my works too. Naoji Ishiyama represented Finland at the exhibition. He works for the Ratamo gallery and it was a pleasure meeting him there – he indeed is a very perceptive and modest man, given his mastery and his achievement.