Meet Kazue Taguchi

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kazue Taguchi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kazue, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I’ve loved to draw since childhood. In second grade, my teacher encouraged my mother to develop my drawing talent, so my mom found a private art class that I started attending weekly. Painting became the center of my life as a teenager, leading me to choose an art university. Afterward, I became interested in painting on glass, and it truly captured my attention. After working with glass in Spain for seven years, my interest shifted to light art during my graduate studies in the US. I’ve always followed my interests, and they’ve become my purpose. I’ve never planned my path; I’ve just followed my passion and curiosity.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a Japanese-born visual artist based in Brooklyn, New York. I earned a BFA in painting and printmaking from Joshibi University of Art and Design in Tokyo and went on to study contemporary stained-glass, restoration and glass design at the Barcelona Glass Foundation. Then, I completed my MFA in glass art at Virginia Commonwealth University.
During my travels in Europe as a teenager, I became fascinated by the effect of light passing through stained-glass windows. The shifting colors cast by the sun felt like paintings in motion—abstract ‘color stains’ that dance across space. That experience awakened my creative vision.
Today, I make immersive installations using glass, mirrors, reflective plastic, and colored Mylar. Light is intangible, but its presence can be profound. My work harnesses that intangible quality to evoke a sense of calm, wonder, and sublimity in indoor spaces.
Light is ephemeral and ever-changing—it shapes our perception of space and time. Through my installations, I invite viewers to pause, reflect and experience the delicate beauty of light in motion.
Besides light art installations, I create collages, flower pencil drawings as a visual diary, sculptures, and photographs. I spend a good amount of time on smaller works, as well as on huge light installations. I put a great deal of effort into all of them. I also create a tremendous amount of landscape photography by using mirror objects and playing with reflections, then recreating a new landscape. These are a different body of work, and they involve a different tension and a different level of involvement for me.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Since I was a child, I used to draw and then I did my undergraduate study in oil painting and printmaking.
I acquired my glass skills in Barcelona Glass Foundation. Every day was disciplined, and it took years to learn how to cut glass correctly, lead stained-glass, polish and more. I remember that for half a year, I practiced making stained-glass with only clear window glass sheets because it was inexpensive. When the teacher finally gave me a sheet of colored glass to make a stained-glass, I was so excited! Over the years, I improved, and that experience opened me up to creating glass art. I feel like learning is never-ending, and the more skills you acquire, the more practice will lead to creating art fluidly.
To further my knowledge, I see as much art as I can at museums and galleries, and in this way, I learn a great deal. For this reason, New York City is an incredible place to see the forefront of the art world.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

When I was in my mid-twenties, I lived in Barcelona and was learning how to make stained-glass windows. Around that time, I also began to be interested in creating glass sculptures. I liked glass bottles as a material, so when I was invited to an exhibition called ‘Glass Toy’ at Espai Vidre Gallery in Barcelona, I showed a small sculptural glass toy made with cut champagne bottles.
One day, a gallerist who was organizing an Art Festival in Penedès, Spain, came to see the ‘Glass Toy’ exhibition. The Penedès area is known for wine production. She contacted me and said she was looking for an artist who could create an installation using two thousand bottles in an artificial lake that measured 180 feet x 180 feet. At that moment, I was a student at the Barcelona Glass Foundation and had never created glass work larger than 3 feet x 3 feet, but I wanted to challenge myself and get the commission. How incredible that a 20-inch small glass bottle sculpture brought a young student like me from Japan a commission involving two thousand champagne bottles! You never know what life will bring!
I decided to create seven islands with the bottles, each containing messages inside. However, I had no idea how to assemble the bottles on such a large scale.
At the glass school, I shared a table and studied with Luci Martin. She and her husband Fernando are like my Spanish parents, excellent artists, and my mentors. I explained the project, and Fernando immediately showed me fisherman’s knots. Tying those knots wasn’t easy, but I practiced for a month before starting the installation and mastered it. While creating that huge installation, I often needed advice, and they supported me consistently.
After two months, I completed the large installation called ‘The Path to Hope’, a project that was born from my childhood memory. That work was featured in several Spanish newspapers and became one of my masterpieces. Because of this work, I was likely able to obtain a Japanese government scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in the US, and it led to more subsequent awards. I am truly grateful to Luci, Fernando, and all family and friends who have crossed into each stage of my life. Thank you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kazuetaguchi.com
• Instagram: @kazueart

Image Credits

Portrait; Donnelly Marks