Yuka Petz is an artist, designer, craftsperson, and collaborator—all titles that she embraces as part of her practice and simultaneously rejects as insufficient on their own.

Her practice is centered around paper, language and text, and encompasses printmaking, drawing, books, narrative, and one-of-a-kind and limited edition works. In Yuka’s work, she dives deep to deconstruct the component parts of a whole, and then engages those parts in different environments or modes of behavior to gain unique perspectives and new understanding.

Yuka’s work has been exhibited across the U.S. and internationally, and her artist’s books and prints are in the collections of several museum, university, and public archives. She received an MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a BFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. See below for a complete CV.

Yuka is the writer and host of Artist’s Books Unshelved, a video series that features books in the Cynthia Sears Artist’s Book Collection at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. She loves the opportunity to dive deep into artist’s books in the collection and publicly share them with audiences around the world.

Collaborating to create community through opportunities, events and resources is important to Yuka. She was an artist member of Antenna Gallery and a principal organizer of the Artist’s Book Collection at Paper Machine. She also previously co-founded SIFT, an interdisciplinary arts organization in New Orleans, and served on the Board of Directors at Seattle Center for Book Arts.

Originally from the D.C. area, Yuka has made homes in New Orleans, Arikawa (a small Japanese island town off the coast of Nagasaki), Philadelphia, Seattle, and New York. She is currently based in Tacoma, WA.