yuuco's tekuteku diary

These are Sakiori bags from Akiko Iwamoto. Sakiori is a Japanese textile craft which is woven cloth made by used cloth. "Saki" means split and "Ori" is weaving. In Japan, we have a thought that we shouldn't wast things since early times. So people in the old days recycled used cloth making things like bags, rugs and cushion covers not to wast it.





Akiko Iwamoto is an up-and-coming Sakiori artist who lives in Takamatsu. The distinctive feature of her works is it's various of beautiful colour combination. I feel joy and fun from her works! How about you? ;) These are key holders.




Sakiori bags. Very strong yet light. :)




Sakiori seat cover. I want to display it rather than sit on it. ;)




There are so many strings, cloth balls here and there in her studio.








Her major is weaving but now she colours cotton cloth herself for creation. So her possibility of colours is unlimited!




She also uses cute cloth like these not only used cloth. :)




Hmm? Where is she? :) I really like "Artist's studio". As you see, she works surrounded by mountains of materials, but the atmosphere was not busy at all. I can even say it's very cozy. :) I think it's may be because she talks to and spends times with them everyday just like friends do and breathes life into them.




As I talking to her, I found a little piece of note on the wall saying "To create, is to live(つくることは暮らすこと)". Just a simple phrase but it does explain her style.




When I visited there, she was just working on some Kimono clothes using silk. (Not Sakiori.)




Feet have important part, too!




Silk cloth for Kimono woven by her. I wish I could express the real smooth texture and the pop pretty colour in my photo!




Her partner.








This is screen printing work. She is not only in one category of Sakiori but tries any kind of textile related arts. This is what making her talent improve and why her works always have new impression although it's a traditional craft.








This is interesting! Looks contemporary art or something? What do you think is this? This is strings which came out when the clothes split. Those are stuffed in the dolls instead of cotton. She never wasts materials. It tells how she loves her things. :)




She has exhibitions regularly and it's a bit away though she'll have a group exhibition in Chiba pref in this November. This is an event called "Koubou karano kaze(工房からの風)" means "The wind from studios" which is only selected pro craft artists can attend. It's held in the garden of an chic gallery Rafuto(らふと), many kinds of craft artists(textile, wood craft, pottery, glass, paper, metal works, etc) will come along under one roof sky from all over Japan. As the title says I'm sure they'll bring us nice breeze from their studios. :) If you'd like to get more information, please click here(Japanese only).