Exploring My Curiosity for Language through Calligraphy

Get a glimpse into the creative world of Takako Takigawa’s calligraphic art. This salon offers a rare opportunity to experience Takako’s calligraphy and book work up close, accompanied by her reflections on the creative process—from selecting a passage to shaping its form, scale, and layout on each page, to deciding which words deserve emphasis. The calligraphic choices are many: Should a word be expressed with a brush, a pen, or even by cutting letters out of paper? And how can these decisions be unified into a cohesive whole? For Takako, the richness of calligraphy lies not only in forming beautiful letters, but in shaping both language and meaning—revealing the written word through rhythm, interplay, and visual composition.

Calligraphers, designers, typographers, and anyone curious about the expressive potential of written language, will find fresh perspectives in this exploration of how calligraphy and the book arts meld the visual and the verbal.

Born in Japan, Takako Takigawa has been teaching and creating calligraphy works since the 1990s. She has lived in Brazil and Hong Kong. Since childhood, she has traveled extensively to diverse linguistic and cultural environments—experiences that nurtured her lifelong fascination with language, especially the written word, and its remarkable power as both a tool for communication and a medium for self-expression. About fourteen years ago, she moved to the United States after her marriage, continuing her teaching and artistic work in NC.

Working alongside her husband in his workshops—both as an assistant and as a student—she transforms assignments into works of personal expression.

Her calligraphy is included in the collection of The San Francisco Public Library as well as in numerous private collections.