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Me Musing .
. . February
12, 2009 . . .
Awoke this
morning thinking of the wonderful book 'Structure and Surface, Contemporary
Japanese Textiles' published by the Museum of Modern Art in New
York. It spoke of the Japanese aesthetics, which as I read, I noted
in my design journal as ones that really
resonated with me . . .
~ entrancing
reverence for dyeing and the inherent character of materials
~ dedicated to
refining their procedure with dignity in the spirit of artistry
~ exquisite palette
of earth tones
~ predilection
for elegant imperfection and asymmetry
~ intelligent
playing
~ crave unique
objects that bear the poetic and meaningful
mark of the hand
~ art as part
of a lifelong quest for harmony
~ manipulating
and imposing design on cloth
~ ancestral techniques
expanded
~ presentation
is soooooo important
~ transforming
yarn or cloth into extensions of their perceptions of earth, water,
sky through colour
~ expression
of beauty through the combination of different materials, as if
the beauty and character of one is brought about by the other
~ to speak
simply through designing
The past few
days I have been researching and exploring the art of Shifu . .
. a unique Japanese cloth made by cutting paper then twisting and
spinning it into cloth. As it turns out, a form of that was what
I had attempted back in early February when I rolled paper and tried
weaving it into fabric for a pocket.
There was little
information on the web about it, so I was fortunate to finally find
Susan, who in the late 80's studied the technique while living in
Japan. She had published an article in a magazine back in 1988 and
she sent me a copy.
The 'traditional'
way produces incredible 'paper yarn' as in this photo that Susan
sent me.
I couldn't
quite get my head around how the paper was cut, gathered up and
rolled, and since I wasn't going to spin them on a spinning wheel
making them really thin, I figured I would stick to the version
I had seen demonstrated by Naomi Kobayashi on the 'Textile Magicians'
video . . . and it worked OK.
I used hand-made
Japanese papers I had around here, folded in half and then cut in
this pattern . . .
all the way
through on one end, but not the other and then alternating like
that . . . which became a kind of meditation!
This is what
they look like when cut.
This is the part I love . . . also very meditative.
We had a cement
block stepping stone we hadn't used and it was perfect for this.
Plus, I just love having it in the Studio with me! I spritzed the
strips with water and then just started at one end and rolled. (I
really used both hands, but I had to use one hand to get the photo!!)
Layed them
on my dress form to dry!
When they
dried they got a little more uneven and unrolled . . . so mine are
what I would call . . . 'Primitive
Shifu' . . . in keeping with a lot of my artwork . .
. 'Primitive'!
I soooooooooo
enjoy this beautiful, quiet art . . .
Until soon,
Che'usa
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