While I was in graduate school studying Asian art, my husband had a sabbatical, and we took it in Japan. Before that, I’d visited Japan once or twice, but living there allowed me to immerse myself in the culture. I also went to China for several weeks, very soon after the country had opened up to the West. After I opened my gallery in Boston, I returned to Japan regularly looking for material.

The love for Asian works of art has been a part of me for a long time. When I was a young teenager, I went to the museum and I saw calligraphy for the first time. I thought it was beautiful. And then when I was told that it was a written language, I was fascinated.