Fumiko Ukai

INSPIRED BY CULTURE
Berkeley, CA

The late Fumiko Ukai was a close friend of my parents, who were attracted to her simple and elegant use of stones and found objects in bold yet understated designs, as well as her warmth and generosity of spirit. Fumi was a superb jewelry designer, using the best of ethnographic components from Asia. She was beloved in the community of ethnographic jewelry enthusiasts. In 2001, they would invite her daughter, Nancy Ukai Russell, to write in Ornament regarding her mother’s surprising journey in jewelrymaking. Prior, Nancy had written about a Japanese beadmaster for Ornament, when she was a journalist based in that country.