New Works and Revelations 新作と気づいたこと

I was bent over the outdoor wash trough wearing industrial rubber gloves and washing resist paste off my fabric in FREEZING cold water as it SNOWED on a SUNDAY and thinking, "how did it come to this?!"ある日曜日、雪が降っていて、教室の外で凍りそうな水に生地を洗っていたところに、「こうゆう作業状況って何なん〜！」と泣きたくて思った。

even the industrial rubber gloves were feeling a bit thin that day. 雪が降っている間、外での水洗い

Why do I always end up finishing things at the last minute? Sometimes it's even after the last minute, getting extensions, being a pain and asking for allowances. Why do I end up giving up every free day and every waking moment to go to School and work on these artworks? Why do I end up cancelling on friends and putting off social occasions to do this?
どうして、いつもギリギリまで仕上げているんだろう？ギリギリまでといっても、締め切りが終わった後にも制作が終わっていない時も最近多い。休みの日にも学校に行ったり、友達に迷惑をかけたり、イベントとかパーティーに全然行けなくなったりするとはなんだった？

Of all the days for it to snow on campus..wash day! 雪の京都精華大学キャンパス

Well, partly it's because I love what I'm doing. I'm excited to make new works, so I do it. But the pace of that making has been overwhelming this past year and I figured out that there's a few reasons for that. 

制作が好きで、新しい作品を作る時にワクワクするということもあるんですけど、2014年の制作ペースがあまりにも厳しかった。その理由は幾つかあると思っている。

One reason would be the university artwork deadlines, which were set arbitrarily and out of my control. 

Another is that I did too much yes-ing: agreeing to take on too many things outside of school; jobs, exhibitions, applications...

Combine that with taking a too-perfect approach to everything, whereby only the most time consuming effort is good enough...

Then add to that a decent dose of procrastination.

All in all it was a recipe for becoming a manic artwork-producing machine.

一つの仕方が無い理由は大学側に指定される締め切り。

それで、いつもYESをすぐに言ってしまうタイプなので、参加する展覧会とかバイトが増えた。

それで、なんでも完璧にやりたい癖もあるから、なんでも時間をかける。時にはすごい時間をかけてしまう。

最後に、procrastination!! やらないといけないこと以外のぜーんぶをやって、やらなきゃとおもいながら、やらない。っていうのが上手！

2014 was an incredible year. This shot is from a show I was in with my 2 fellow Textiles Masters students in Kyoto in July. 2014年7月、ギャラリーマロニエでの展示

Don't get me wrong. Last year was incredibly rewarding and exciting and I grew a lot as an artist. That growth is something I could only have gained through all those different opportunities. But there is definitely a point where the benefits are outweighed by the physical and emotional stress brought on by such ridiculous, back-to-back deadlines.
こういうふうに分析しても、2014年は凄く豊な一年だった！色々な機会や経験があったからこそ、作家としても成長した気がする。

I have this quote hung in my kitchen from a young designer called Imai-san who works in the Chiso ｙuzen kimono company. He comes to speak at Kyoto Seika regularly as part of a course that introduces students to the many different traditional craft companies in Kyoto (kimono, bamboo, paper, lacquer etc). When I saw him speak in 2012 he gave out a great handout that included these words

"The essentials for creativity are seeing, experiencing, studying and enjoying as many different things as you can. All those things enrich your sensitivity...
Achieving your goal: It's important to have a strong belief in yourself and hold firm. You need toughness and gusto to accomplish what you want without being influenced by your surrounds..."

たまに京都精華においでも講演しているＣＨＩＳＯ（手描き友禅の着物会社）の今井さんの言葉が台所にはってある。

"クリエーションに必要なことは、できるだけ多くの物を見たり、体験したり、勉強したり、また遊んだり、そんないろんなことで自分自身の感性を豊かにしていく…目的を達成する：　自分自身の信念を強くもち、ブレないことが大切です。そして環境に左右されず、やり遂げるタフさやたくましさが必要です。"

It's so true. Notice that he emphasizes the importance of play and seeing many different things. When tight deadlines force out that time for play, we lose chances to think new things, to get more creative ideas and probably, paradoxically, to be more productive.
遊びの時間もつくらないとだめですね。締切のせいで、遊ぶ時間が無くなったら、もしかして創造的に考えるのも難しくなります。

perfecting swift parrots? Sketches upon sketches. オトメインコのクロッキー

Will I ever get that balance though? Probably not. Since perfectionism and procrastination are part of my personality, I don't think I'll ever be someone who finishes early.  I've found the idea of just doing "good enough" has been helpful in getting me over some perfectionist hurdles though: ask yourself, what would I do right now if this didn't need to be perfect? If I could just do "good enough" right now, what would that be? and then try and do that.
いつかそういうバランスを達成するのだろうか？性格的には無理かもしれない。ですけど、「完璧」を求めるよりも、「十分に良い」に目指したら、制作がもっと楽になる気がします。

Like I said, I'm not regretting any of the experiences I had in 2014 though. I am also glad I made it through it all because now I am part of this huge panel-selected exhibition starting Sat 24th January at the Kyoto Musem! Flyers are on the trains and in department stores and everywhere!　It's part of a string of events to take place throughout 2015 to mark the 400th anniversary of the Rinpa School of Japanese Painting and features about 40 young artists who base themselves in Kyoto. It's opening on the weekend and I'm super excited!

See more details here and here. Also come along to the artist's talk on the 7th of February to hear me stumble through 5 minutes in Japanese!

sneak peek at the work "Floriferous" I'm showing as part of the Kyoto Museum show.

2014年、色々頑張って良かったと思うのは、こういうステキな展覧会に選抜されたこと！京都文化博物館で「琳派400年記念　新鋭選抜展」は約40人の作家による展覧会。この週末から開催されていて、ワクワクしています！ちなみに、2月7日のアーティストトークで5分ぐらい喋るので、京都に居る方、ぜひ応援しに来てくださいね！詳しい情報はここから。

More to come soon too on my graduation artwork which is THIS CLOSE to being finished!　もうちょいだけで終わる修了作品についても近々にアップしますので楽しみにしてください！

Eeep! Graduation will be here before you know it!

Difference between Silk Painting and Yuzen? 友禅とシルク・ペインティングの違い？

今間、9月にオーストラリアで友禅染の作品を展示した時に思ったことがあった。「友禅ってシルク・ペインティングと一緒ちゃう？」

（笑。頭の中が関西弁になってんやで。爆笑）
When I was in Australia in September, I exhibited some of my Yuzen artworks and I started thinking, "Isn't Yuzen just another way of saying Silk Painting?"

"Isn't this just Silk Painting?" シルク・ペインティングちゃうの？

よく考えてみたら、両方はペースト状の防染するもので、線を引いてから上に染料を好きなように塗るというやり方です。線のところは同じく染料をふせいで、染め上がった生地には白い線が残っている模様になります。
If you think about it, both are resist techniques where paste lines are drawn on the surface of fabric and dyes are applied over the top as you like it. The lines in both cases resist the dye and you are left with white lines as part of your design (if we are talking the most basic form of the techniques).

silk painting - hydrangea

Yuzen‐dyed hydrangea

So, what's the difference then? Is it ideological or technical?
そうでしたら、どこが違うのでしょうか？技法の詳しいやり方？それとも技法の考え方？

The most obvious difference between the two is the technical one of the resist paste used: "Nori" in Yuzen and "Gutta" in Silk Painting.
技法の面からみると、一つの明らかな違いは防染剤として使っている「糊」と「Gutta」ですね。
*糊*Nori
糊は友禅染や型染めに用いられている「ピーナツバター」色のペーストです。もちことぬかを混ぜて、蒸したもので、粘りがあります。この糊を生地に置くと、乾いた後に染料を塗ったら完全防染の効果があります。糊によりますが、絹を使っている場合では、糊の線の所に薄い茶色が残る時もあります。気にならない程度なので、問題ではないですが。これは「のりやけ」という現象です。
"Nori" (which just means "glue" in Japanese) is used as a resist in both Yuzen and Katazome dyeing. It is a thick paste similar in colour to peanut butter but sometimes paler. It is made by steaming a mixture of glutinous rice flour and fine rice bran which then gets a pummeling to make it nice and smooth and sticky. Once applied to the fabric, it is left to dry and can be dyed over and will completely protect the white fabric. Sometimes when used on silk, the paste will leave a slight beige colour after being washed off but it doesn't stand out enough to be a bother. They call this "nori-burn". You can purchase pre-made nori with some kind chemical added that ensures this burn effect doesn't happen but I prefer to make my own nori and so I just deal with it. I kind of prefer it over a stark white resist anyway.

Rice-based Nori for Yuzen.

*Gutta*
Guttaというのは元々木から採れるゴム製のものです。名前は採れる木の学名に基づいているそうです（Palaquium gutta）。Guttaは透明のペーストがありますが、他にも黒や色や金色が付いているものも販売されています。透明のGuttaは、糊のように染料を定着した後に落とすものですが、色のGuttaはそのまま模様の部分として残すものです。Guttaは完全防染で、ゴム製なので水で取れなくて、シンナーで溶けて落とさないといけないです。最近、水で落とせるGuttaもできたらしいですが、ゴムのような防染力が高くないみたいです。
Gutta is a rubber latex paste that is extracted from certain tropical trees, eg Palaquium Gutta, hence the name. There's clear gutta available as well as those with colour added and even gold and silver. The clear gutta is intended to be removed from the fabric after setting the dyes, whereas the coloured ones are left on the fabric as part of the design. You can't remove gutta in water so it results in a strong and complete resist. There's also water-based gutta that can be washed off but apparently the strength of the resist is not as strong.

Gutta resist - clear and coloured. Images from dharma trading company

* Just to complicate matters, there is also rubber-based nori now used in a large percentage of modern day Yuzen. It's the same kind of stuff as Gutta and must be removed with solvent. The benefit of rubber nori over the rice based nori is that it isn't weakened by the water-content of the dyes applied, it's not susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity and you can fold or roll the fabric it's applied to without cracking or damaging the resist lines.
．．．といいながらも、友禅にも「ゴム糊」がありますね。着物業界での友禅はこの頃殆どゴム糊でやっているらしいです。ゴム糊は湿度の変化とかによって変わらないし、生地を曲がったり動かしたりしても糊の線は割れないので作業が楽です。

sticky, smelly rubber-nori for yuzen

Whilst the dyes and fabric may be similar between Silk painting and Yuzen, I think the major difference is the approach to applying the dye and this is what ultimately makes the two techniques look totally different.
両方に使う染料や生地は似ていると言えますが、染料の塗り方（というか挿し方）は全然違います。私は、友禅染とシルク・ペィンティングの雰囲気は全く違うように見えるのはそのためだと思います。

Silk Painting Dyeing

The use of a strong rubber resist in Silk Painting allows the dyer to be quite liberal with the dyes, applying generous amounts of dye or silk paints with brushes and allowing/encouraging them to bleed, blending them into each other and achieving gradation effects with water or alcohol. In my understanding, the silk-painter is thinking of the gutta lines as borders and working up to them and pushing dyes towards them. I know there are probably many different techniques and personal preferences for how to apply dyes but see this youtube clip for a visual of how someone might apply dyes in silk-painting.
シルク・ペィンティングの方では、ゴム製のGuttaで防染しているから、防染力が高くて、結構自由に塗れます。筆で載せて、水やアルコールで上手く暈したり、塩で色を抜けたり、色が滲むように置いたりします。考え方として、防染の力を持っているGuttaに信頼しながら、その境界へ色を広げるというような感じじゃないでしょうか？やり方は沢山あると思いますが、一つの例として、次の映像を見てね。

(If a yuzen-dyer witnessed this kind of dye application, I can guarantee he would have heart palpitations. This kind of liberal dyeing would go straight under his nori-lines and ruin his kimono before you can say "nori-bousen" (paste resist). 友禅の職人さんがこういう塗り方を見たら絶対ショックを受ける！糊の上にこんな量の染料を置いたら、直ぐに糊の線の下へ入ってしまって、作品はもうダメになりますからね）
The visual result of this style of dyeing is washy, blended colours, something akin to watercolour paintings. And I mean, the name of the technique is Silk PAINTING, so the process and result tend towards a painterly style. The rubber resist is soft and viscose too, so that even if the resist lines are drawn with a fine-tipped applicator, the lines will be rounded and fluid, not crisp.
こういう染め方によって、作品は柔らかな暈しや水彩のような色使いになりますね。またGuttaが柔らかいから、防染の線はきっちりとした線ではなく、丸くて柔らかいものです。

Yuzen Dyeing

In Yuzen, the dyeing step is called "iro-sashi"which doesn't mean brush on dye but insert colour. The action is not like applying generous amounts of dye to soak into the fibres but rather carefully inserting colour where it is desired. Nori resist is removed in water which means that it is also weakened by the water content of dyes. This means that the yuzen dyer (and katazome dyer who uses much the same nori) is trying to avoid wetting the paste areas too much. The paste can of course withstand some contact with liquid but continous re-wetting and too much liquid on top at once quickly dissolves the paste and it no longer serves any purpose as a resist.
友禅の方では、染める段階は「色塗り」ではなく、「色挿し」といいます。シルク・ペインティングのように、繊維を染料で濡らすというより、染料を欲しい所に丁寧に入れていくという感じです。糊は水で落とすものですから、染料の水分にも弱くなります。ある程度水に強いですが、何かいも濡らしたり、沢山の染料を一遍に置いたりしたら、防染力が減ります。

So instead of thinking of the nori lines as hard and fast borders, I think the yuzen dyer sees these as delicate edges and works towards them with dye but tentatively. Dyes are even thickened with some seaweed-based thickener (Manutex) to endure they don't bleed or run. See what I mean in this video:
なので、いっぱい耐えれる強い境界のように思うのではなく、繊弱なもので糊まで丁寧に染料を入れないといけないと思っているのではないか。（だからこそ、この頃防染の強いゴム糊が使われるようになったのでしょう。）友禅の色差しはこの映像で見せます:

伝統X現代？
I guess you could also argue that a difference between the two techniques is the history; that Yuzen is "traditional"and Silk Painting is something "Modern". But Yuzen doesn't have such a long history, really. It was just something Miyazaki Yuzensai thought up in the 1700's as a convenient way to get designs onto fabric. And Silk-painting also has historical roots in Chinese silk-painting, taken to Europe (possibly) and developed from then 1800's and turned into new kind of technique.
友禅が伝統的で、Silk Paintingは現代のものだという議論もできそうけれども、そんなことないと思います。友禅はそんなに長い歴史を持ってないですし。宮崎友禅斎はただ、模様を生地に描ける方法が欲しかって、1700年ごろ発展したのでしょう。SilkPaintingも歴史があります。絹がヨーロッパへ輸入されたあとにイギリスやフランスに現れたそうです。ルーツは不明ですが、インドや中国の伝統に影響されたんじゃないですかという議論があります。

So, yes they are different techniques that share some materials and tools but ultimately allowing different kinds of creative expression. Woop, case closed! Here's some lovely examples of both techniques in celebration.
終わり、確かに二つの技法は違いますね。使う材料や道具が似てますが、作品の雰囲気が異なって、両方には別の表現可能性があります。最後に友禅とSilkPaintingのステキな例を見せます^^

Contemporary Yuzen artwork by Ishii Toru, 2010 石井亨 「地球船都市号」 2010 友禅染、絹、パネル 1650ｘ990mm

Xiaojing Yan "Face to Face - Past and Present", Silk painting, Plexiglas, 10'' x 10'' x 3'' each, 2011, The Gladstone Hotel: "Come Up to My Room."

detail of hanging work by Kaga-Yuzen artisan Teranishi Ikkou 加賀友禅をやっている寺西一紘の作品

Yuzen Kimono by National Treasure Moriguchi Kakou 1961.
森口華弘《駒織縮緬地友禅訪問着 早流》1961年

Hole in the Sky, Fire Painting on Silk Charmeuse, Kirstin Ilse 

The Mismatch, The Spaces Between.

At a review meeting I had two weeks ago at school, my head Professor saw my draft design and declared, "It's like an Australian Sōtatsu!" (Sōtatsu Tawaraya is a very famous founding member of the Rinpa school of Japanese painting and is most famous for his bold designs and folding screen paintings which are a staple in Japanese school textbooks) It was a laughable comparison but essentially, my Professor was suggesting that my artwork looked pretty Japanese.

VERY Famous pair of screen paintings by Sotatsu. Reproductions are on permanent display at Kennin-ji in Kyoto.

Another teacher then asked me whether I'm "conscious of that mismatch between the Japanese and Australian". Yes, of course and I feel like I still haven't managed to tread that fine line with sufficient finesse. Perhaps my artwork still does look too Japanese.

But let's think about what that means; to "look Japanese". Maybe my compositions or colours are heavily influenced by Japanese painters. But isn't any artist inspired by someone, or by some art that came before he did? It just happens to be that what I am inspired by is "outside my own culture" or has a history attached that was borne in another country. I'm not trying to appropriate or parody Japanese paintings or Japanese traditions, rather I am impressed and moved by them. So perhaps the questions should be more about where the line is between Parody and Homage. 

It comes back to the very crux of what is "creation". All we are ever doing is recycling. Grabbing all those little skerricks of things we love, things that excite us, things that make us go "ohhhh" and bundling them up together cleverly and beautifully in a way that becomes us. 

Where we grab those strands of inspiration from will influence the whole but the sum of them will be unique.

I can be influenced by Japanese painting or scrolls or Abstract Impressionism but if I am a talented artist, if I am engaging in creation, then the artwork that I create won't be an imitation of those or a parody but rather an artwork that rings of a certain taste, certain familiar qualities, certain influences that are important but not all-defining. 

I happen to love art that makes you look twice because it's a special play on imagery or tradition. How about this list for starters? Australian Danie Mellor, Ceramicist Ah Xian, Sculptor Ricky Swallow, Painter Yamaguchi Akira, 

Yokohama-e Prints from the 1860's, Edo-era Bird scrolls, Japanese painter Takeuchi Seiho.......

Quirky scrolls depicting imported bird species from the early 1800's

Ah Xian "China Bust 15" 1999. Porcelain

Akira Yamaguchi 『演説電柱』2012

Takeuchi Seiho "Painting of Rome" 1903

These are artworks and artists inspired by tradition, inspired by certain tastes or cultures but they turn those influences into something else entirely. 

In my own work, I feel the same push and pull. The technique gives the work a certain look, and I push it towards something else; as a result it can be neither here nor there. And why not be both? If we did the same thing as everyone else, we could expect the same results, and we know from the definition of "creation" that every recycling produces a new combination.

I have now officially spent half of my art education in Australia and half in Japan so the images and artworks that I've been exposed to are from both backgrounds. Perhaps if I was doing katazome purely within an Australian art school, my work would tend more towards design or abstraction or experimental textiles. But with the things around me like Nihonga (Japanese painting) and contemporary pictorial textiles, this is what I have gravitated towards. Also I'm really interested in the ideas behind Japanese painting about compositions and seasonal imagery and flow, it's not purely just that those paintings are around.

Instead of feeling odd or uneasy about the mismatched things and the spaces between, why don't we celebrate them?