Why does Textiles have such a fluffy reputation? 「テキスタイル」はなぜダサい傾向がある の？

Studying the techniques of Katazome and Yuzen in Japan opened my eyes not only to the unique and culturally-ingrained processes and materials of these techniques, but also to the mind-set surrounding them.; the way the finished textiles are categorised, presented and discussed.

Since returning to Australia, it's been no real surprise to see that Textiles here (with a capital T) is an entirely different kettle of fish.

　
日本に4年間も住んで、型染と友禅を勉強したら、日本に独特な材料、長い歴史のある道具や工程などについてだけではなく、それ以上に勉強できたのがあの染織作品は「どうのように思われている・発表されている・論じ合われている」ということだった。

オーストラリアへ帰国してから気づいたのは、驚くことではないけれど、ここの「テキスタイル」は日本とは全く違うものなのだ。

TEXTILES TODAY: black and red. cardigans. berets and wine. apparently.
テキスタイルの現状なのか。服は赤と黒で決まっているみたい。もちろんワインも登場しないと。

Earlier this year I was accepted for inclusion in the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award Exhibition for 2015. I didn't win the prize (of course, the 10K prize went to an artist already rolling in recognition and opportunities... sorry, still a little bitter...) but my work ("Canberra Blues") was displayed in a beautiful historic building along with that of 48 others!

Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award Exhibition 2015

my work displayed beside beautiful wooden doors and stained glass

The exhibition really had a bit of everything

I was unable to attend the opening (Wangaratta is over 400km away from Canberra...if only Australia had Bullet-trains!) but went down later to see the show on display. I was really impressed with the breadth of textiles included. There were a few pieces that I wasn't too sure about, like miniature origami units of patterned envelope insides forming a large wall piece (how is that a Textile?) and a ceramic Budgie with a pair of "budgie smugglers"(speedo's) tossed on it's head (Yes, I can understand the Textile in that one but not the point...)

Anyway, I thought the selection committee and organisers had done a really good job of representing the many facets of what it means to make Textile Art. There was a bit of everything; and all of a really high standard. It felt like each piece had something to say. But contemporary Textiles is not always so well represented or carefully curated...

Wangaratta市美術館。煉瓦の本館は元々教会だったらしい
The Wangaratta Art Gallery heritgae building with lovely
red-brick, stained glass, high ceilings and polished wooden
floors. Apparently it used to be a Presbyterian Church.

6月に2015年度の「Wangaratta市現代テキスタイル賞展」に出品させていただきました。毎回ヴィクトリア州のかなり小さい都市であるWangaratta市の美術館で行われていますが、国内のテキスタイル世界では人気なイベントになっています。美術館自体も素敵な煉瓦のビルです！

日本の素晴らしい新幹線や特急電車が存在しないオーストラリアでは、4２０KMも離れているWangaratta市美術館でのオープニングには行きにくかったが、開催中に見に行きました。（車で京都から神奈川までぐらいの距離！）

今までにオーストラリアで見たテキスタイル展の中で、一番キュレーションがよかったかもしれないです。
「現代テキスタイル」という範囲に限られたのに、作家さんや作品の幅が広かったです。刺繍の作品、インスタレーションの作品、染めの作品、織りの作品、編み物の作品も展示されていました。どんな作品も個性や技術があって面白かったけど、一番いい所は、全部の作品は何かを言おうとしていたことでした。

I may be about to offend people...but I need to say it anyway.
What's with the way that Textiles is a Naff-magnet? (naff is such a great word...)

Other genres of Art, let's take Painting as an easy example, may attract masses of mediocre artists or uninteresting paintings. There may be plenty of ordinary Print-makers or average Sculptors, or maybe uninspired Photograhers. But Textiles, unlike the others, seems to have this unrivaled ability to generate the Naff. The Tacky. The just...not quite right.

This is probably in part because of the way that Textiles teeters on the cusp of "Art" and "Craft" (whatever they are anyway) and seems to encompass such a huge breadth of things.  I'm all for diversity in Art, and in Textile Art. I'm all for using whatever medium or technique allows you to express yourself best. But I can't be the only one who is sick of the fluffy reputation hanging round Textiles. What's the deal?!

でもテキスタイルって、よくダサい勝ちじゃないですか？？

日本の「染織」もその傾向があるでしょうが、オーストラリアやアメリカでの「テキスタイル」は得にダサいがちだと思います。

テキスタイル以外の美術をちょっと考えてみましょう。例えば絵画。絵画では確かに、技術が低くて、なにも個性がない作家というのは時々居ますよね。版画の世界にも居るでしょう。なにも感動させない写真家も居るはず。面白くない彫刻家も絶対どこかに居ます。

しかし、テキスタイルの場合はちょっと違う気がします。
面白くないや個性がないだけじゃなくて、
フワフワな、女性っぽい雰囲気がなんとなくあります。

これはテキスタイルって美術と工芸の峠に存在するからだろうし、ジャンルとして幅が広いのもあるでしょう（染め、織り、編み物、レース、裁縫、シルクスクリーン、綴れ織り、絞り、インスタレーション、等々も含んでいます！）テキスタイルの多様性は祝うべき物だと思いながら、フワフワな名声が嫌になっています。

What spurred this rant was when I made an attempt to connect with the Textiles scene outside of Japan by joining some moderated groups on Facebook. One is called "Textile Arts" which purports to showcase Textile ART, to the point of declaring this mission statement,

"Our mission: To elevate textile fine art beyond the craft arena into the realm of conventional galleries. View the latest works from both well known and emerging artists.

 and they even show this visual guideline for prospective posters. And yet....

...I am constantly awed by the, shall we say "variety", of posts to the group.

Textile "art" posted to the group

I'm sorry but WHAT THE?
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to make an arrogant proclamation that MY TEXTILES IS THE ONLY WAY or DOWN WITH CRAFT!

But I think the way Textile Art is spoken about is confused.

To put a Textile in the Art basket, I think it needs to be addressing an idea; trying to say something of value. I think this is why I was so impressed by the Wangaratta exhibition, the artists all had something unique and interesting to say with their work, and that made it interesting! 

この問題について考えるきっかけは、FBで「テキスタイル・アート」というグループに参加したときです。このグループの目標は次のように書いてありました。

「私たちの目標:

工芸の枠を超えて、テキスタイルをギャラリーのレベルまで上げること。

よく知られている作家の作品も、新鋭作家の作品を見せること。」

にもかかわらず、右のようなものが載っていました。毎日こんな物はグループに追加されています。何なんだ！

テキスタイルはこうだよ！とか、工芸はダメだ！とかを言おうとしていませんよ。ただ、テキスタイルのジャンルは理解されていなくて、もっとアートに近づきたいグループとしては成功していないと思います。

テキスタイル・アートにしたいなら、メッセージがないといけないと思うようになりました。技法は面白くても、手の仕事がいくら丁寧であっても、作品のメッセージ（テーマじゃなくて、個人の考えや気持ち）が欠けているととアートとはいえないと思います。

View Denise Ferris' website here →　http://www.deniseferris.com/

Denise Ferris, an Australian artist, Photography Lecturer and current Head of the ANU School of Arｔ comments in a recent article about focusing on technique versus saying something with that technique.

Denise.."specialises in nineteenth century photographic techniques, but says it’s important not to get too caught up in the technical aspects of photography. 

“For us （Canberra School of Art practitioners) it’s never just about the skills, it’s about the body of work that talks about concepts through materials,” says Ferris.

“I practice these old world techniques, but I’ve never practised this for the skill itself. I’m only interested when it’s parlayed to a concept or an idea, and is about pushing those ideas further. 

“That might not seem so revolutionary, but I think...this research and practice mentality is something different for [other Art Schools]”

Red Window - Photograph by Denise Ferris

オーストラリア国立大学美術学の学長・写真家のデニース・フェリッス氏は、１９世紀の写真技術を用いています。しかし、自分は技法そのものではなく、技法を通して表現する、と最近の記事で書きました。

「技法ばかりのではなく、技法を通して作る作品のコンセプトは大事だと思います。古い技法を用いってるのですが、技法だけで面白くない。この技法はコンセプトか、何かのアイディアを探る場合にしか興味をもっていないです。 」

With this way of thinking, quilts, knitting or felting could be quite welcome on "Textile Art"s Facebook page - but only if they are exploring or untangling some kind of idea.

こういう風に考えるならば、キルト、編み物、フェルトなども上述したFBページにも載せれるけど、コンセプトがある物に限られます。

下の作家さん、ルーク・ヘインズ（米国）は現代的なキルトを作っています。こういうのだったら、Textile Artとは言えると思いますが、フワフワな雰囲気がないのは男性なのだからかもしれない。

This Artist Luke Haynes might be onto something. I still have reservations but at least he is pushing the envelope and creating quilts that are more like contemporary art. Maybe it's something he can get away with because he's not a woman. Also, he graduated from Cooper Union, which is supposed to give him instant hipster Art street-cred.　Youtube Link

Or perhaps this quilt of a $10,000 note by Nina Paley is on the right track. It ticks the conceptual box... but I disagree with her opinon about high art being a price tag issue.

またこういうキルトもアートなのでしょうか。１万ドル札のキルトで、キルトの売る値段は材料・作る時給のお金より安いという皮肉なメッセージも含んでいます。

Having said all this, I'm not sure an exclusive mindset is beneficial for Textiles practice. It doesn't leave room for the talented makers with amazing skills. Nor does it leave room for Textile-ans who are still finding their voice.

But it sure would be nice for a change if Textile Art could lose it's fluffy reputation.

結局なの結論になったか分からないですが、

テキスタイルアートはこれからフワフワ、B級、ダサい雰囲気を無くしていけば、いいなあと思っています。テキスタイルでアートを目指しているなら、アートのように自分には大事なメッセージを表現しましょう。

きっと、最新鋭のジャンルになれるので。

A course in Nihonga - Japanese Painting. OR, "How to paint Broccoli" 「日本画体験」。または「ブロッコリーの描き方」

We just finished our summer break at Kyoto Seika University. During the break, various departments run short courses as part of the "Summer School" program open to the public offering things like printmaking, papermaking and ceramics. This year was my last chance to participate so I signed up for the 5 day course in Nihonga - Japanese style painting. It turned out to be great fun, and the longest I've EVER spent observing broccoli.
先週、京都精華大学の夏休みはやっと終わりました。夏の間に精華で「サマースクール」が開催され、ロクロ体験、木版画体験とかの短期コースが提供されています。今年は最後の京都の夏なので、五日間の日本画講座に参加することにしました。とてもいい経験でした。しかも、ブロッコリーを眺めるにはこんな長い時間を掛けるのは人生初めてだったと思います。

Kyoto Seika's 2014 Summer School courses.

A good friend finished her Master's degree in Nihonga last year so I had the chance to peek inside the Japanese Painting studios at Seika and see some of the materials and processes they use. She also came to see me working in Textiles and it struck us both how many similarities there were between Nihonga and Senshoku (textile dyeing). I've also read a little about Japanese Painting and the movement of Kacho-ga ("The Art of Birds-and-Flowers") so I had been keen to try out working with the mineral pigments for myself.
去年、日本画の大学院から卒業した友達がいます。彼女の作業スペースへお邪魔しに行って、日本画の素材ややり方をちょっとだけ見えました。テキスタイルの院部屋へ遊びに来た彼女も、日本画と染色には共通点が多いと気づきました。前に日本画やその中の「花鳥画」に興味を持って少し研究したので、今回、岩絵の具を実際に使って見るのを楽しみにしていました。

When I say "Japanese-style painting", I don't mean paintings of Mt Fuji or Geisha or ink-work scrolls or gold-leafed panels, or kneeling in kimono to paint (although all of these may be part of it!),

it's a term that has come to refer broadly to the traditional Japanese way of painting with mineral and powdered pigments, animal-based glue, gold leaf, Japanese paper, silk, and more.

Just a small selection of the Nihonga pigments we were let loose with.

The name Nihonga just means Japan (Nihon) Paintings (ga). Speaking with Murabayashi Sensei who led the course, he explained how the term Nihonga never existed before the Meiji Period. It came into usage as a way to differentiate it from the new, introduced form of Western Oil Painting/Youga, abura-e. Prior to that, Nihonga was defined more by the movements and schools of painting, such as Rimpa, Kano or Tosa.
日本画っていう言葉は、明治時代に輸入された油絵・洋画と区別できるように使われて来ました。その前に「日本画」というジャンルではなく、何々派（狩野派、琳派など）というふうに呼ばれました。

Nihonga is still taught in Universities and it tends to be categorised as this very traditional, nature-worshipping, almost spiritual study. Just see the English description of the course at Kyoto Seika here to see what I mean! I first saw Nihonga paintings in 2008 when I was an exchange student at Kyoto Seika University. My first reaction was that they appeared so pale and chalky. As someone who was scarred by my primary school teachers telling me "It's too pale! Use darker colours!!", I was inclined to think that a sign of poor workmanship. See below some examples of the kinds of paintings I first saw.
日本画は大学で学べます。自然、伝統、精神を重視しているコースというイメージが強い気がします。初めて日本画の作品を見たのが交換留学生の時でした。小学校で美術先生によく「薄すぎ！もっと濃い色を使ってごらん」と言われた私には、色が薄い日本画が分かりにくかったです。その時下のような絵を見ました。

Works from the Kyoto Seika Japanese Painting department

But I think that judgement was due to the fact that I didn't know what I was looking at (and also, they were works by 2nd year uni students..so, you know).
Now that I've experienced the layering of pigments and texture that comes from these, I have a better appreciation for the texture and colour quality of these paintings. Let's have a look at the process we went through in the short course.
でも、その時は日本画のこと全然知らなかったし、学際の展示だったから１、2年生の作品はずでした（１，２年生に失礼かもしれないですが）。５日間はとても短いけれども、日本画の色合いや砂のような感触をちょっとでもわかるようになった気がします。さて、講座で習った工程を見てみましょう。

Our main focus in the 5 days was to get a feel for using powdered pigments so the subject matter was not of such great importance. Thus, we were to choose from an array of vegetables and spend a day sketching out our composition. I chose a big head of broccoli and a red onion.　
講座の目標は日本画に独特な岩絵の具を体験することだったから簡単な主題として野菜を描かせました。私は丸くて面白いブロッコリーと綺麗な紫のレッドオニオンを選びました。
After sketching our vegetables, we proceeded to paint the colours of our vegetables onto the sketch with watercolours. I was a bit confused as to why we would paint the image in one medium, only to trace it onto another surface and paint it again...but I went along with it.
野菜を丁寧にデッサンしてから、水彩絵の具で色を塗りました。岩絵の具を描いていく野菜を一回水彩絵の具で描くというやり方はちょっと面倒くさいと思っていたが、岩絵の具を選ぶ時に参考に水彩スケッチが参考になりました。

Clockwise from top left: My broccoli and red onion, sketching, watercolour on sketch, and tracing the watercolour. 上左より、主題のブロッコリーとレッドオニオン、デッサン、水彩スケッチ、それをトレース紙に写した後。

So once we had our colours down in watercolour, we traced the design onto a gold edged paper panel. Because the panels had flecks of gold and were a bit shiny, we applied a base coat of go-fun （white chalk powder) to the areas where we would paint our vegetables. After that dried, it was finally down to the fun part of applying colour!
彩色してから金箔っぽいのパネルに移しました。パネルがつるつるだったから、一回胡粉（白い粉）を野菜のところだけに塗りました。それでやっと絵の具の楽しい段階へ行きました。

Gold panel with a base coat of go-fun chalk painted on. 胡粉を野菜のところに塗った後

Murabayashi Sensei brought in a huge array of Nihonga pigments for us to look at and have a go with. He showed us this amazing tray of bits and pieces of minerals and creatures that are the very base form of the most expensive tennnen iwaenogu Natural Pigments.
先生が色々な岩絵の具を見せてくれました。その中、こういうめちゃくちゃ高い天然磐絵の具の素材の鉱物もありました。綺麗でしょう！

they just LOOK expensive don't they? lapis lazuli, malachite, cinnabar... 貴重な天然岩絵の具の素材：朱、孔雀石、ラピスラズリ．．．

These materials are mechanically washed, filtered and ground to various particle sizes, used to obtain　different effects. The larger the number (11-13 etc) the finer the particles, and the lighter the colour. Coarser particles like 5 or 6 produce a darker colour. This effect was strikingly obvious with the box of shinsha : natural cinnabar (isn't this stuff toxic?!) . The deepest colour is a crimson and the lighter shades appear closer to orange.
この鉱物は機械で細かく砕いて、色んな細かさの粒子に分級されます。5番から13番で粒子の細かさを表示します。低い番号（５，６番）は粗くて色が濃い、高い番号の11，13番は細かくて色が薄いです。辰砂の天然岩絵の具を見たら、同じ素材なのに色調が異なるだとすぐに分かります。

Cinnabar Mineral pigments. Coarser and darker on left ranging to finer and paler at right, all from the same base mineral material. These could set you back $20 per 15grams. 辰砂の岩絵の具。細かい粒子（11-13番）はオレンジ色なのに、同じ素材が大きい粒子（6番とか）だと濃いピンクになります。

To actually apply the powdered pigments to your painting surface, they are mixed by hand with an extracted animal collagen called nikawa. This mostly clear liquid is a little thick (depending on individual preference) and it's got a bit of an animal smell, though not overwhelming. Using your finger you work the powder into a smooth liquid with an appropriate amount of nikawa.
岩絵の具を塗るために、指で「膠」を使って溶けます。膠がちょっと動物の匂いがするけど、慣れてきたら気にならないです。

getting into it, mixing pigments with "nikawa" 膠で溶けた新岩絵の具

The next step down from the Natural mineral pigments is Man-made mineral pigments. That is, mineral bases that have been chemically altered to give a broader range of colours than are naturally occuring. Apparently these only really took off after Western Oil Painting became more prevalent in Japan because artists working in Nihonga wanted a broader range of colours to rival the strong and colourful expressions of Oil Painting. These offer a really beautiful range of colours. They are cheaper than the all-natural pigments and they have awesome names too! "Back-of-leaf Green", "Red-bean", "Japanese Nightingale"...
次の種類は「人造岩絵の具」。つまり、鉱物などを化学的に変化させたものです。色は天然岩絵の具より多彩です。先生の話によると、明治時代に油絵が日本へ入って来たとき、日本画家は油絵の色や強さに印象を受けました。それで、同じような強さを表現したかったから色数を増やして欲しかったらしいです。色が並んでいるとすごい綺麗ですね！色名も面白かったです。「鶯」、「あづき」、「裏葉緑青」というような名前を読んだら、どういう色かはすぐに頭に浮かびますね。

So-called Manufactured Mineral Pigments. AMAZING colours. And all with great names too. 新岩絵の具。素晴らしい色だけじゃなくて、色名も面白い！

And next down the rungs in the nihonga pigment hierachy are the ones we were actually allowed to go nuts with, suihi enogu. These are what beginners usually start with and are also used for underpainting (shitanuri). Some of these were quite beautiful and others were just...argh! They reminded me of some of the really acrid chemical dye colours in textiles, especially the horrible yellows and pinks. Which makes sense because the cheap nasty ones like these are just go-fun chalk white that has been chemically DYED!  Apparently students are advised not to use these because they tend to bleed and stain if used in the underpainting!
次に来るのは水干絵の具です。講座で下塗りにこれを使いました。綺麗な色多かったけれども、下のような生っぽいの色もありました。安い染料のような色だと思ったら、化学染料で染められた胡粉らしいです！やっぱり。下塗りにこの水干絵の具を使うと表まで滲んで来るから使わなように学生に教えっているそうです。

EEEW! Nasty Chemical-looking suihi enogu dyed pigments.　生っぽい水干絵の具．．．

slowly adding layers of suihi enogu  

copying colours from the watercolours we had painted. 水干絵の具を塗っていく途中。水彩スケッチは役に立ちました。

下塗りが完成。base layers of suihi enogu complete

Once we had painted the vegetables in with the basic suihi-enogu we moved on to adding layers of the iwaenogu, with their coarser particles to add brilliant full colour and highlights. The iwaenogu layers remain see-through and the base colours show through. Of course, there are many ways to use the various pigments of nihonga and this is just the order we were taught over the 5 days.
水干絵の具で下塗りを完成したら、上に光に綺麗に発色する岩絵の具を塗りました。何回も塗って、粒子の粗いものも塗りながら完成に近付きました。

very coarse iwaenogu applied to my red onion in the final stages. 最後に塗った粗い岩絵の具。

完成したオニオンのクロースアップdetail of the onion with coarse iwaenogu in areas

Broccoli details. I was SO OVER BROCCOLI by this point! ブロッコリーのディテール。五日間目になったらもうブロッコリーを見たくないになった！

I was interested in the way Murabayashi Sensei was guiding us to use colour and describe form. He told us that it was probably hard for us to stop trying to add highlights and shadows but that in nihonga, its all about describing the weight of the object; it's fullness and presence. This is also acheived by leaving the background empty. Well, empty space in nihonga is not thought of as empty but as endless imagined space. We were also encouraged to use not only the colours we could see but colours that we wanted the viewer to feel.
先生の色や野菜の形についての説明も面白かったです。日本画では、物の説明より、重さや空間の方が大事だと説明されました。空間の使い方、色の濃さで存在感を描写する作業になります。それと、見える色を使うだけじゃなくて、「感じたい色」も入れたらいいと言われました。水彩絵の具が一番馴染がある私にはこういうのが難しかったですが、それこそいい経験でした。

"Broccoli & Red Onion" Melinda Heal 2014, haha. 完成！

In closing, I was talking to my friend about how nihonga is starting to be less popular in Japan or is tending towards Pop-art/manga. Then I realised that there is this long history of things that Japan adopted voraciously to the detriment of what was perfectly adequate before that. For example, chemical dyes almost completely replaced natural dyes, suits and western dress overtook kimono, vinyl floors are replacing tatami etc etc. And yet it is these original things about Japan that the world is so intrigued by and in love with. If nihonga gets swept aside too that's a real tragedy for Japanese art and culture.

Fragmentation: Red-tailed Black Cockatoos 分解化 赤尾黒オウム

My most recent artwork was breaking new ground for me in several ways. It's the largest work I've made so far, it's the first time I've dyed predominantly black birds and it's visually different from my previous pieces.

一番最近の作品は幾つかの理由で私には斬新でした。今までに作った物で一番大きいし、ほとんど黒の鳥を染めるのが始めてだし、デザイン的には前の作品とちょっと違う感じでした。

Let me show you the final piece and then I'll tell you a bit more about it. 

作品を見せてから作品の話しをさせていただきます。

Here it is on show last week at Gallery Fleur in Kyoto Seika University, as part of an exhibition held by 1st year Master's students of the Art & Design Graduate Schools. 

これは、先週行われていた「京都精華大学大学院一年生展」に展示していた様子です。

"Fragmentation: Red-tailed Black Cockatoos" 2014. katazome and yuzen resist techniques on linen. 6 panels of 60x180cm. 「分解化・赤尾黒鸚鵡」　型染、友禅、他。麻地6枚。

This work as displayed at the 1st Year's Masters Exhibition last week. To the left you see the work of my Textiles classmate Kiko Takahashi and in front is the work of Endo Ryotaro. 「大学院1年生展」での展示。左側に同級生の染織専攻高橋紀子の作品です。前景に、陶芸専攻の遠藤良太郎の作品です。

One thing I felt from my last exhibited works at Rissei Elementary School was that they would have had more impact if they were bigger. It always feels as if the work is enormous when you are making it, thanks in part to the detail involved, and the way you have to reach and use your body but then you display it on a wall and realize with dismay that it's actually not that big. 

11月元・立成小学校で作品を展示した時に気づいたのが、j作っているところは大きく感じるが、やっと壁にかけて、離れて見るとがっかりするぐらい小さくみえることでした。

when you are working on it in 6 pieces (only 4 visible here) the work feels enormous! こういう風に6枚に分けたら（ここで4枚しか見えないけど）、作品がものすごく大きく感じるんですね！

So I tried going bigger this time and in the end the work cam out to be 180cm tall by 360cm wide. Because of fabric width limitations and also because I enjoy the movement of fabric in spaces, the work is made up of 6 free hanging panels of a lightweight natural-coloured linen fabric. 

というわけで、今回の作品は横360センチかく縦180センチです。使いたっかった生地の幅や、空気に揺れる生地の感じが好きということで、60センチ幅の麻地を6枚合わせた作品です。

see the way the design is split over a set of panels. Japanese viewers are used to this format thanks to folding screens and noren split curtains. こんな感じでデザインが何枚かに流れています。日本では屏風やのれんなどに見える方法です。

In my work to date, I have been exploring depicting birds in flight and trying to give a sense of movement. This time I attempted to add to that effect with a grid of diagonal lines in the background. This background fades out slowly towards the left side. 

今までの作品では、動き感や時間の流れを感じさせるように、飛んでいる鳥をよく染めます。ここでそれをより深く感じるために、背景に斜線でできているグリッドを入れてみました。鳥の方向に沿って、背景の色はだんだん薄くなっていきます。

飛んでいる鳥の表情が一番好きです。I like the expressions and shapes of birds in flight the best

I titled the work "fragmentation: Red-tailed Black Cockatoos" (I don't much like titling work, it can sound so arrogant) because the south-eastern strain (Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne) of the Red-tailed black cockatoo is now endangered and this is in part due to deforestation and fragmentation of eucalyptus habitat. As at 2013, less than 1200 birds were counted by volunteers in South Eastern Australia. See this website for more information. 

タイトルというと(本当はタイトルを付けるのがあんまり好きじゃないけど) 

「分解化・赤尾黒鸚鵡」なんです。アカオクロオウム属では、5種類がいます。オーストラリアの東南に生きる種類(Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne)は絶滅危惧種になっています。2013年、ボランティアによる調査でオーストラリアの東南に1200以下の鳥が数えられました。

In terms of technique, this time I combined hand drawn yuzen resist (the cockatoos), katazome stencil resist (the Eucalyptus leaves silhouettes in the background) and dyeing directly on the fabric with the help of some clever masking.  

技法については、この作品に三つの染め方が混ぜ合わせています。オウムは友禅でそめていて、背景の葉っぱが型染めのもので、幾何学的な背景はマスキングしながら直接染めた所です。

The birds are dyed with the thin resist lines of yuzen and the leaves and gumnuts in the background were applied with a hand-cut stencil - katazome.　オウムは友禅の細い線で染めました。背景にある葉っぱや実は型染のしゃっきりとした線で表現したかったです。

here you can see the soft gradients I dyed in the background, using slightly thickened dye, a big soft brush and lots of masking tape. ぼかしのところをテープと染料と糊剤と丸刷毛で染めました。

I had some good feedback on this piece at last week's exhibition and I'm happy with the direction this artwork is taking me in. 

6枚の生地をバラバラにして作業しましたから、展示した時は自分で始めて見ている気持ちでした。お客様や先生ににいいコメントをもらいました。自分の中でも、この作品が向かっている方向が好きで、次のステップをワクワクしています。

My work in Gallery Fleur alongside work by 1st year Master in the Japanese Painting Department, Hiroko Kanayama. ギャラリーフロールで日本画専攻の金山ひろこの隣でした。

Already turning the mental cogs about the next big piece and I'm thinking FLOCKS! Big swarming flocks of parrots! Very exciting. Stay tuned :)

次に大きい作品を作るときのアイデアはもうあふれています。「群」について考え中です！インコの鮮やかなでっかい群！いいでしょう？楽しみにしてください☆