Somé no Bunka - Fukumoto Shigeki's introduction to the unique magic of Somé

It took me many months to read, but I successfully worked my way through a book by Japanese artist and researcher Fukumoto Shigeki called "Somé no Bunka", or "The Culture of Dyeing".

Part of the motivation behind my exhibition (and especially the choice of title) last month at the Japan Foundation in Sydney was to introduce more people to the genre of somé. Somé means 'dyeing' in Japanese and the term separates it from other forms of textiles. 

In Japanese it is common practice to divide the field of textiles into dyeing and weaving (somé & ori 染め、織り). The name of the textiles course in many Japanese universities is senshoku (dyeing and weaving 染織) which is the just a different reading of the characters for somé+ori.

Somé is different from weaving, obviously, but it is also distinct from surface design or 'textiles'. It's a complicated division and of course there are overlaps but Fukumoto's book reiterates the unique history and way of thinking behind Somé.

Fukumoto is a practitioner and proponent of Textile dyeing. His own work is diverse but is characterised by free-form dyeing with gradations, folds and wax resist.

This is a beautiful video showing him and one of his techniques. I have to say it's a little bit contradictory to the things he says about flatness and tactility but it's interesting nonetheless.

I thought I might translate a few short passages from Somé no Bunka here for you. (Please excuse the Engrish-y feel of them!)

Preface

"There is a curious pleasure to be found in dyeing work, almost without realising. It’s something you sense during the actual work of the dyeing process; a joy perhaps only privy to those who’ve tried it. 

There’s the feeling of pleasure when impurities and excess dyes are washed away. Or in the final rinse, one feels a sense of accomplishment as the dye stops running from the fabric and the water runs clear.

You see the vibrancy of the dyed colours in the soaking fabric.
Relaxing the fabric with steam, it becomes supple and fresh again.
Touching the freshly dyed fabric, and knowing it is clean and clear of impurities is a joyous moment.
As well as the many possible dye-effects, there is a satisfaction in knowing the finished artwork is still simply a single piece of cloth. 
There is a joy not simply the making of the work, but also in the sensation of touching it with the skin.
I question that perhaps I enjoy this too much."

Regarding mounting textiles　↓

"Dyeing requires cloth and dye. 
Unlike painting with pigments, for example, dyeing is borne of the need to fix colour onto cloth without spoiling the fabric's characteristics. 
That is, the basis of dyeing is using methods that don't alter the feel of the cloth.

If you go and frame or mount a dyed piece of fabric, it becomes a flat artwork. That piece of cloth is transformed into a mere surface and it loses its meaning as a soft, pliable cloth.
If it's an illusory flat surface you want, what's wrong with using canvas, or paper, wooden board or a wall?
If you insist on using fabric even though the final product will be hard and flat, what's the point of going to all that trouble dyeing it to maintain it's fabric qualities? You're probably not interested in the tactility of the cloth - the direct interaction with the skin.
 In which case, your choice to insist on using fabric is nonsense."

- YEAH! you tell 'em Mr Fukumoto!

He also goes into a lot of depth regarding the relationship between Japan's dyeing history and culture and European and American understandings of dyeing. He is particularly scrupulous about the Surface Design Association in the U.S and their development from a weaving-dominated association to one that covers all kinds of textiles. I think Australia went through a very similar progression, from crafts-based textile skills, to 1960's/1970's free-form fibre-work and dyeing to a contemporary Textile scene we see today.

Though Dyeing tends to be subsumed under the heading of Surface Design in Australia and the U.S, Fukumoto maintains that Somé and Surface Design are not one and the same. He advocates using the word Somé as an alternative, to avoid the inevitable connotations of words like Textile Design, Surface Design or Fibre Art.

He's actually quite adamant, "Sashimi, Karate, Anime and Shibori are already incorporated into our internationalising vocabulary. Why not just call it Somé? Japanese dyeing culture is highly regarded around the world. If people are so enthusiastic about learning those traditions and skills, first they should just use the word Somé!!"

I would love to share more of his writing in future posts - but for now just these tasters!

-- keep an eye out, I hope to post images from my exhibition in the near future!

ROKKAN Exhibition - Some・Seiryukan - 6人6感 染・清流館

Time has flown and before we knew it we were taking the show down again!

あっという間に展覧会が終わって、気づいたら搬出しているところだった。

For the month of November, I was part of a six person group show "ROKKAN" at a dyeing-specialist gallery in Kyoto called "Some Seiryukan". It was part of a regular series of exhibitions that highlight up-and-coming artists working in dyeing techniques. This time around, Katazome Artist and Kyoto Seika Professor Toba Mika was the director, choosing the 6 participants and overseeing the event. 

11月中、京都の「染・清流館」という染め専門ギャラリーで六人のグループ展「Rokkan」に参加させていただきました。毎年開催されている「将来を期待される新鋭染色作家展」というシリーズの展覧会で、今回の監修鳥羽美花先生でした。

Toba-sensei brought the 6 of us young artists together because we all utilise traditional dyeing techniques but we use them in fresh and interesting ways. As a group we covered the breadth of rōketsu wax dyeing, hand-drawn line resist (itome-nori), clamp resist dyeing （itajime), katazome and yuzen.
私たちを集めてくれた理由は、六人とも伝統的な染め技法を使用していることだったそうです。それで、昔ながらの技法でありながら、自分なりに用いていることが私達の共通点でした。ロウケツ・筒書き・型染・友禅・板締　という幅広い技法で制作しているグループです。

For this show, I displayed two new works (!!) and one earlier piece; my wild budgies "Murmurations" piece. In both of the new works I tried to achieve an effect of depth and movement using multiple and overlapping layers of semi-transparent fabrics.
今回大きい作品の3点も展示しました。2点は新作で、もう一枚は7月にできた「Murmurations」の作品でした。新作では、薄い生地を染めることによって、奥行きや動き感を表そうとしました。

With the smaller new piece, "Canberra Blues", I dyed 3 layers of silk (organza and georgette in the front and shantung as the back layer) and combined both yuzen and katazome. I used katazome to create areas of bold leaf silhouettes and then yuzen to echo these branch shapes as well as include more delicate leaf details. There is one little bird in the piece (A Yellow-throated Gerygone) but this time I was more interested in the lively curves and shapes formed by the "eucalyptus cinerea".

「Canberra Blues」　2014 Katazome and Yuzen on Silk. 150 x 150 x 10cm

一枚の新作は「Canberra Blues」という作品でした。この作品では、三層の絹地（オーガンジー、ジョージェット、シャンタン）を型染と友禅の両方で染めました。型染で背景のしっかりした枝のシルエットを染めました。友禅で、前に出ている細かいところを染めました。一匹の鳥がいますが、今回は鳥の環境という絵よりも、このユーカリの葉っぱの形と枝の流れを描写したかった作品です。

Detail of the layers of silk. Here, yuzen at the front and katazome at the back. 絹の層が見えます。前に友禅で、裏の絹に型染です。

There are many of these gum trees around Canberra; they are often used as street-trees and on median strips. Because of the blue-green foliage, I had been mistakenly calling them blue gums but they are actually called "argyle apple" or "silver dollar" gums. My title refers both to these (mistakenly named) trees and the way that they are so evocative of Canberra as to make me a little homesick.

detail of "Canberra Blues" 2014. Yuzen and chemical dyes on silk organza

キャンベラでは、このユーカリがよく街路樹として使われています。葉っぱは柔らかい青緑なので私はずっと「Blue-gums」（青のユーカリ）と呼んでいたんですが、本当はそうではなく、「Argyle Apple」や「Silver Dollar」（葉は硬貨の様に見えるから）と呼ばれているらしいです。

"Canberra Blues" 2014 detail of layers.

The largest work I had on display was this work depicting Little Corellas in flight. The white Corellas are whipping up into a flock and streaking across a warm, dusty Australian sky. Though it didn't come through strongly in the final piece, I was inspired by the use of dusty washed-out colours as seen in Australian Impressionist paintings, from the 1890's.
今回私が出した作品の中、このアカビタイムジオウムをモチーフにした作品が
一番大きかったです。イメージは、夏の暖かい空を飛び上がるオウムの大群です。出来上がった作品では、あまり分からないですが、色合いは1890年代から活動していた「オーストラリア印象派」にインスピレーションを受けました。その画家たちは、当時の洋画によく見えたヨーロッパの鮮やかな緑や雲っている空を否定して、初めてオーストラリアの独特な光や色をそのまま表現しようとしていた派でした。結果として、オーストラリアの印象派の絵では、乾燥した草の薄い茶色、南半球の空の暖かな青、内地の土の濃い錆色、眩しい日差しの金などがよく使われました。

"Shatter the Immense Summer Sky" 2014 Yuzen and own techniques on Cotton organza. approx 450 x 180 cm
友禅、独自染方、綿オーガンジー　約450x180センチ

I really liked these quotes from two of the most famous Australian Impressionist painters about our unique light and colours.
オーストラリアの印象派作家による気に入った言葉が見つけました。通訳しにくいですが、オーストラリアの特有の色と陽射しについて書いていました。

Frederick McCubbin, writing to Tom Roberts

"I fancy large canvases all glowing and moving in the happy light and others bright, decorative and chalky and expressive of the hot trying winds and the slow, immense summer"　 

Also Arthur Streeton, writing at the group's countryside painting camp

"I sit on our hill of gold,...the wind seems sunburnt and fiery...north-east the very long divide is beautiful, warm blue far far away all dreaming and remote...Yet as I sit here in the upper circle surrounded by copper and gold...all the light, glory and quivering brightness passes slowly and freely before my eyes"　

I can easily imagine this scenery of being "surrounded by copper and gold". You can see this kind of sunburnt, toasted, sunlit landscape anywhere around the A.C.T or country NSW. 上の「アーサー・ストリートン氏」（オーストラリア印象派の代表的なメンバー）が書いた「銅・金色に囲まれて」というような風景はすぐ想像できます。キャンベラの周りでも、乾燥している草や山々が見えるから、どこか懐かしいものです。

Detail of the work, hanging in 5 seperate panels.

Although this piece was made in a ridiculous rush I had fun using some different techniques to dye the background. I dabbed coloured nori resist paste onto the fabric with a stiff brush in diagonal lines and also used semi dry brushes to create streaky lines at intervals. I hope I managed to create a sense of movement and lead the eye across the piece.

In this detail you can see the dots of coloured resist paste I dabbed on using a stiff scrubbing brush and the diagonal streaks of dye. たわしで載せた色糊や斜めの線が見えますかね？

この作品を作るペースはめちゃくちゃハードでしたが、（今まで一番しんどかったかもしれない！）ちょっと変わったやり方だったので楽しかったです。風や砂埃を表現するように、たわしで色糊を斜めに置いたり、染料を斜めに暈したり、かすかすの刷毛で線を引いたりしました。動き感を出したかったです。それと、目線が自然に左から右へ移動するよに工夫しました。

Entry to Rokkan Show. You can see work by Yuri Ohmura to the left and Haruka Masuda on the right. Rokkanの入り口にて。左で見えるのは大村さんの作品で、右は増田さんの型染作品です。

ROKKAN was a huge learning experience! Some-Seiryukan is a gallery I have been going to for 5 years or more and was always impressed with what I saw. Many of the great Sensei's of dyeing in Japan from the 70's or so onwards have shown work there. I never expected that I'd be showing my own work there one day! I also feel very privileged to have been the first (As far as I can tell!?) foreigner to be included in a show there.

My work and Masuda-sans work in the space.

「ROKKAN」はとても勉強になりました。 染・清流館は長い間行っているギャラリーで、沢山の偉い染めの先生の作品があそこに展示されていますので憧れの所でした。まさか私の作品もあそこに展示されるなんて思わなかったです。私が知っているかぎり、染・清流館で出品する初めての外国人作家でした！（嘘でしょう！？）それはとても感謝していることです。

Panorama shot  taken inside the gallery. From L-R, Yamamoto Aiko, Mine, Saya Okura. 

It was also my first time participating in an Artists talk event in Japanese, having to talk about my work and even answer questions from the audience! Whilst I can hold every day conversations in Japanese and write what I want to say, this kind of Ad-lib Japanese is definitely not my strong point!! Even though I tried to be prepared and practised some answers for potential questions, I was SO nervous and my Japanese ended up sounding very broken and sing-song. If you feel the desire to hear just how akward it was, here's a link to the talk show!

http://someseiryu.net/mp3/20141101.mp3

日本語で大人数のアーティスト・トークイベントで話すのも初めてでした！日常会話が平気なんですけど、こういうアドリブという形は凄く苦手です！友達が親切に準備に手伝ってくれましたのに、本日マイクを握るととても緊張してしまって、日本語があんまりスムーズに出なかったですが。気になる人、うえのリンクでトークショー全体聞こえます。

Something I really took away from this exhibition experience was how conservative Kyoto can still be. In particular, the dyeing circles in Kyoto are still very stuck in their ways and seem to have trouble welcoming the new generation into their midst. During the artists' talk there was an incident (which was carefully edited out of the audio above) where one of these Nonagenarian Kyoto Dyeing World gatekeepers (who feel it their appointed duty to protect the past) stood up and let the whole room know his opinion in no uncertain terms. His view basically (which could have been said with much less anger and in a far more subtle moment) was that even though we are young and innovative artists, we have to do things the way they have always been done at that gallery. Don't go try and do fancy things with technology or creativity or we'll get confused. We were just trying to play this movie we had made ourselves in the background of our talk.

この展覧会に学んだのは、京都での染め世界はまだとっっっても保守的という事実です。京都は昔から着物の産地だったという歴史はまだ大きく影響されていると思いますが。
ギャラリートークの途中、上のオーディオから上手く削除された出来事は起こりました。勝手に「自分が京都の昔からある染め世界を守らないといけない」と思っているそうなおじさんが、トークを聞きに来たみんなの前で怒って、自分の意見を叫びました。彼の意見は（うるさく言わなくてもよかったのに）、私たちは若くて、面白い形のトーク（自分たちで作った映像を流しながら話すって形）をやろうとしていても、このギャラリーがいつも開いているトークと同じようにしないとだめ、ということでした。

「染め」を現代にも続いてほしかったら、こういう旧派的な考え方どうするの？
If the older generation wants to see their beloved field of Dyeing, which they have dedicated their lives to, to continue into the future, what's with stubborn opinions like this? I guess there is this kind of resistance in the progression and change of any tradition or field. This guy really made me angry but it has given me something to think about in terms of what it means to work in a traditional technique.

onwards and upwards! My graduation work will feature Swift Parrots 卒業作品の準備最中です！今回はオトメインコをモチーフにします！

とにかく、次の作品を作らないといけないです！今卒業作品のデザインを終わるところです。型彫や染めの段階に楽しみにしています！卒業作品では、絶滅危惧種のオトメインコやユーカリをモチーフにします。楽しみにしてください！^^
ANYWAY! Onwards and upwards! The next deadline, which is fast encroaching, is my Graduation Artwork! Hard to believe I'm already making work for graduation for the Master's course! It feels like I only entered the course yesterday. I'm currently finishing the design and itching to start the hands-on part! My work will revisit the Endangered Swift Parrot and it's love of the "floriferous" Eucalypt blossoms. Watch this space!

Resist & Reveal - Exhibition Wrapped up in Canberra キャンベラでの展示が 終わりました。

The magic moment comes when the resist paste is washed away to reveal your completed design. This final step in the process is when you really feel a sense of satisfaction and it's what excites you to move on and create the next thing. The tickle of motivation to do it all over again. 

This was the idea behind the title of "resist & reveal", an exhibition of works by myself and Amy Kerr-Menz which we held from September 23rd to October 5th in Canberra. Amy and I both studied Textiles and Japanese at ANU, where we met, and we both later went on to spend one year on exchange at Kyoto Seika University, Amy in 2007 and myself the following year. What we met on exchange was the technique of katazome, stenciled paste-resist dyeing. 
「防染糊を洗い落としたら、魔法のように染めたデザインがやっと現れる。この段階は工程の最後で、満足感を感じる上に、次の物を作りたい気持ちも湧いてくる瞬間なのだ。」
こういう気持ちを踏まえて、「resist (防ぐ）＆ reveal (現れる）」という二人展を
エイミー・カーメンズと一緒に開催しました。オーストラリア国立大学の美術学校の中にある「ＦｏｙｅｒＧａｌｌｅｒｙ」で9月23日～10月5日まで展示しました。エイミーさんと私はオーストラリア国立大学で同じ日本語とテキスタイルコースに入ってから出会いました。2007～2009年、一人ずつ京都精華大学で交換留学生として一年過ごしました。私たちは京都精華大学で「型染」に魅力されました。

In this exhibition we brought our different artworks together in the ANU School of Art's Foyer Gallery space. I displayed  my "Degradation"series of 3 works "Daimonji & Black Kites" piece, my round work "Loss & Worth : Orange-bellied Parrots"and one small recent work depicting Eucalyptus leaves. (See more images of these works on my website）
今回ＦｏｙｅｒＧａｌｌｅｒｙにて、型染と友禅染めの作品を一緒に展示しました。私は6点を出品していました。ウェッブサイトで写真が見えます）

One view of our exhibition "resist & reveal" at the ANU Foyer Gallery, Canberra. Sept 23-Oct 5 2014. photo (c) Andrew Sikorski 2014　入り口から展示の風景

Amy had many of her beautiful hand cut katagami stencils on display, including a series based on Kyoto urban scenery, a series of geometric patterns and (my personal favourite) intricate katagami of repeat patterns formed by repeated hiragana characters (a, i, u, e, o). 
エイミーさんは細かくて美しい型紙をたくさん展示しました。その中、京都らしい絵的な型紙シリーズ、幾何学的な模様の型紙シリーズと、写真に見えるひらがなを繰り返している模様的な型紙シリーズ「あいうえお」もありました。

amazing hand-cut katagami stencils by Amy Kerr-Menz which are patterns formed using repeated Japanese hiragana syllabry.　エイミーカーメンズさんによる繊細な型紙シリーズ。ひらがなの一文字をアレンジした模様になっています。

If you couldn't read Japanese, you wouldn't know these are hiragana all rearranged. And because the patterns are beautiful on their own, often even those who CAN read Japanese don't pick up on it at first.
日本語が読めない人はひらがなでできている模様だと気づかないうえ、日本人でも最初は気づかないのが多いです！写真の手前に見えるのはひらがなの「あ」ですね。
Amy also displayed a series of her most recent dyed works, using a palette of natural dyes and the katazome technique. These were dyed on washi paper and depict Australian Native flora combined with the first letter of their scientific name. 

The careful set up process 気を付けながら展示していたところ

Amy Kerr-Menz's dyed flora series 2014. photo (c) 2014 Andrew Sikorski

We had a great turn out to our opening event on the 23rd of September. It was so nice to show my work to an Australian audience for a change and to experience a real exchange of ideas and interactions that is often lacking between Japanese artists and other artists/the public. I got some great compliments you'd never get in Japan like, "Mesmerizing!" and "Amazeballs!" 
オープニングパーティーは思ったより人が来てくれて、盛り上がりました！来た皆さんに感謝！英語で客さんや他の作家さんと喋ったり、アイディアを交換したりがいいねと思いました！

The opening reception for "resist & reveal" on 23rd Sept. Cheese, sushi, nama-yatsuhashi and wine were an amazing combination!　オープニングにて、「巻きずし・ワイン・生八つ橋・チーズ」という不思議な盛り合わせで乾杯しました。

Jill Mowbray-Tsutsumi from the ANU kindly opened the exhibition for us! オーストラリア国立大学のJill Mowbray-Tsutsumiにオープニングスピーチーをしていただきました！

Galleries tend to be small in Japan so exhibiting in a larger more open space for a change was also refreshing. The ANU's Foyer Gallery is glass-fronted so that you can see into the show as you are approaching the gallery but it also lets you see a backdrop of gumtrees and blue sky out the windows and lets in a lot of natural light. 
日本のギャラリーは狭いがちなので、自然光で溢れている広々した空間で展示するのが新鮮でした。美術学校のＦｏｙｅｒＧａｌｌｅｒｙはガラス張りので近づくと中の作品が見えるし、中から外へ見ると、ユーカリとか青空が見えていい感じです。

近付くと作品がちょっと見えてくる。The all-glass back entrance to the Foyer Gallery means the artworks are visible from the outside.

...it also means that there is plenty of natural light during the day それで自然光が結構入る

The Eucalypts outside also form a nice backdrop! 外のユーカリも背景になります！(c) 2014 Andrew Sikorski

We also held an artist's talk as part of the ANU School of Art's Art Forum free lecture series on October 1st. It was great to be able to show the techniques we use to people who had mostly never seen them before. 
期間中にも、美術学校のレクチャーシリーズ「Ａｒｔ Ｆｏｒｕｍ」でアーティストトークをしました。糊防染の技法について殆ど知らない人に説明ができていい経験でした。
And so, after a few Aussie adventures (mostly culinary) We packed the show up again and I'm back in Kyoto. I had virtually no downtime and spent the last month making new work which went on show in a new exhibition this past weekend!! 無事に終わって後、次の日に京都へ戻ってきました。休まずに制作に飛び込んで、あっという間に次の展覧会が始まりました！！

This time, it's a big exhibition with 5 other young dyeing artists and myself. We were selected by our professors and come from Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima and (obviously) Australia. Our common thread (textile pun!) is that we all use resist dyeing techniques but all in very different ways and not necessarily in the traditional sense. Below is a (ahem...classy?!) video where you can see some of the gallery setup and artist's talk but it's on until November 24th so if you have time, please check it out!
今回、京都にある染め専門ギャラリー「染・清流館」で5人の若い人と一緒に展示しています。鳥羽先生に推薦されて嬉しかったです。京都へ来た以来、よく清流館の展示を見に行ったりしたので、長い間憧れたギャラリーでした！
6人の出品者は皆「防染」の技法を新鮮な気持ちで使っている若い作家さんです。ビデオでちょっとだけギャラリーの風景が見えますが、11月24日までにやっていますから、時間がある方ぜひ見に来てください！

Some Seiryukan Details 染・清流館のアクセスなど

If you happen to be in Kyoto, please pop in! I'll be sharing more images from the show in the near future.

京都又は関西にいっらしゃる方ぜひ！
また近いうちにもっと写真アップします。