As a child, Patricia Jow Kagemoto’s father had a 35mm camera, with which he would always take pictures of her and her sister as they were growing up. She later took a photography course and just loved when the photos would come out in the darkroom; it was like magic in black and white. She eventually bought her own camera and went from there, learning to truly love photography. Ms. Kagemoto began her professional career as a printmaking workshop assistant at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz in 1974, remaining in this role for one year before moving up the ranks to print shop assistant. She then consulted in printmaking for Communications Village, Ltd., which was founded by Benjamin Wigfall in Kingston, New York, from 1975 to 1984, also teaching arts and crafts with the Neighborhood Service Organization in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1976. Also at Communications Village, she instructed intaglio and color viscosity printmaking, and served as an administrative assistant from 1977 to 1979. She went on to serve as an exhibition auditor for the New York State Council on the Arts from 1984 to 1987 and a gallery assistant for the Watermark/Cargo Gallery in Kingston from 1988 to 1991.
In addition to this tenure, Ms. Kagemoto was a visiting artist at the State University College’s New York State Summer School of the Visual Arts in Fredonia, New York, in 1978, and SUNY New Paltz in 1983 and 1984. A printing consultant in 1984 for the Printmaking Workshop in New York, founded by Robert Blackburn, she also directed the children’s printmaking workshop at the Woodstock Library in 1989. To prepare for her illustrious career, Ms. Kagemoto pursued a formal education at the Syracuse University School of Art from 1970 to 1971 and Hunter College from 1971 to 1972. She then attended SUNY New Paltz, where she attained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking, magna cum laude, in 1975.
Ms. Kagemoto always received encouragement from all of her teachers, which helped her a lot and she continued to work at her art. Some of the renowned artists influential to her works in painting and intaglio printmaking are Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, Jackson Pollock, Krishna Reddy and Clare Romano. Noted for her exquisite photographs of waterscapes and nature, Ms. Kagemoto has an appreciation for various photographic genres such as the magnificent photography portfolios of Haro Kagemoto and of Drew Carolan.
As a solo artist, Ms. Kagemoto has exhibited her work at Communications Village in 1976, the Cinque Gallery in 1978, the Woodstock Library in 1989 and the Watermark/Cargo Gallery in 1991. She has also exhibited her work in various group shows across the state of New York, as well as the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa, California, in 1997. Outside of her primary trade, Ms. Kagemoto maintains affiliations with the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In light of her many accomplishments, the New York City Department of Education’s School Art League awarded Ms. Kagemoto the Haney Medal in 1969 and the Alexander Medal in 1970. She was also a grantee of the America the Beautiful Fund in 1976, as well as an Ulster County decentralization grantee of the New York State Council on the Arts in 1989. Ms. Kagemoto’s work is included in the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Notably, she has been listed in the 25th and 26th editions of Who’s Who in the West.
The daughter of Tong Fook and Toy Kuen (Lee) Jow, Ms. Kagemoto is married to her loving husband, artist and photographer Haro, since 1991, with whom she has raised a beloved daughter, Emerald. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, playing with her cats, going to botanical gardens, sewing and tending to her many houseplants. Moving forward, Ms. Kagemoto plans to continue working in digital photography. In the future, she hopes to get back to expressing nature through dynamic abstract paintings.
