Nori Ushijima

Ushijima´s contact with the world of painting begins at the age of 5, under the guidance of Tashiro Junichiro, a well-known japanese landscape painter, who teaches him the canons of art. He graduates in Arts at the University of Tokyo, 1978 and goes on to graduate in Arts at the engraving/etching workshop at the Academi di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci, Peruggia, Italy, 1983. He then obtains the degree of restorer from Istituto Centrale del Restauro held by Italian Ministry of Heritage, Rome, Italy, 1991.
During his long stay in Italy, made the following major restorations work; Filippo Lippi (Duomo of Spoleto / Italy) / Raffaello Sanzio / Pietro Vannunci (Perugino) / Giotto ("Monastero di San Silvestro" / Subiaco / Rome) / Bronzino / Guido Reni / Paolo Veronese and Caravaggio, a fresh cycle Villa of Livia Dursilla in the Prima Porta (north outskirts of Rome), Rome's Palazzo Colonna (Colonna Gallery, Great Hall / Room war Column / Sala of Apotheosis MartinV) etc. .. As a result of his work as a restorer, he begins to introduce the ancient techniques; fresco, encausto, egg, caseina, tempera…, in his painting.
In 1991, he moves to San Sebastián (Basque Country, Spain). He produces diverse murals of large dimension “al fresco” in which he represents the “Sibila Delphica” of the Sistine Chapel (Classic themes with mythological motifs) and another based on the Roman sculptures of “Galata Morente” - Campidoglio. In 1997, he does a fibre-glass “retablo”(alterpiece), depicting the finding of the Virgen of Valvanera for the church “Asunción in Arenzana de Arriba” , La Rioja, Spain.
In 1998, he moves to Barcelona, where he now resides. Over his years in Spain, he has held numerous exhibitions, in the Basque Country, Catalunia and the Canary Islands, where he creates a 4x5 metre mural of “Los Sueños de Cefiro” (Cefiro´s dreams). After a labour of 9 months , in 2007, he also completes a spectacular 14 metre mural in Mendaro, in which he depicts his vision of the Guipuzcoan modes and habits, inspired by the Pio Caro Baroja documentary “Guipúzcoa”.
In 2009 hits a wall (300x230cm) “technique with fresh” entitled “Baptism of Berasaluce” for the Chapel of the Trinity of Mendaro (Guipuzcoa / Spain) and in 2011 made a huge mural (1,90x18,36 m. ) with the technique of “traditional sgraffito” represented “The legend of Princess Ico” in Nautilus Bungalows in Lanzarote (Canary Islands / Spain).



Represented by the Arteko Gallery (San Sebastián/Spain) since 1996, he is also highly- regarded as a portrait painter. Proof of this is the portrait of the beatified Plazaola, which is to be found in the chapel of “Santo Cristo de paz y paciencia in the “Santa Maria” Church, San Sebastián.
His work is to be found, among others, in the collections of the Museum of Kamakura Yokohama, the Tokio Municipal Museum, the Juan March Foundation, the Kutxa Foundation, The Goya etchings Museum in Fuendetodos, and the Museum of drawing Castillo de Larrés in Huesca.