Kiyoko Yamaguchi specializes in drawing historic buildings in watercolour. While doing the detailed rendering and colouring each space, she always thinks and feels as if she is constructing the architecture or the scenery.

Born and raised in the historic Kyoto-Shiga area in Japan, Kiyoko derives inspiration for her works from the people and the architectural structures of her hometown. She says, when drawing she captures the building structures first, then she adds in colours and life to the painting making it more realistic. Her aim is to express a simplified happiness around the old streets, in the midst of contemporary changes.

Kiyoko Yamaguchi received her bachelor degree in Architecture from University of California at Berkeley and her doctorate degree from Kyoto University focusing on Southeast Asian architectural history. She lived and worked in Japan, the United States, the Philippines, and France before arriving in Hong Kong in 2006.

Image: © Kiyoko Yamaguchi, Art Beatus