Interview with Aomi Kikuchi

Aomi Kikuchi is a textile artist based in Kyoto, Japan. She holds a BFA from Kyoto University of Art & Design (Japan) and an MFA from Pratt Institute (USA). Aomi has exhibited her work throughout the world including at Woman’s Essence Show 2020 (Rome), The Body Language 2021(Italy), and will exhibit at Art Laguna 2021(Italy). 

Her work is based on Japanese aesthetic principles and the teachings of the Buddha.

“Wabi-sabi”, a well known philosophy that beauty is found in imperfections and “Mono-no-aware”, the feeling of sympathy for that which changes or perishes such as the seasons and all living things. The Buddha states that life is impermanent, insubstantial and suffering. People feel suffering when they seek something everlasting yet while existence is not eternal, the activities of matter and life are conceptually infinite.

Over 30 years, Aomi has dedicated extensive and immersive practice to various textile materials and techniques including  Yuzen Kimono Dyeing, and  Japanese  Embroidery. 

Aomi takes inspiration from the fragility and fleetingness found in natural cycles and in textiles such as extremely thin fibers, goose down, and cotton flower. 

She explores impermanence and infinity through the use of biology and nature with textiles and waste.

Thanks for taking time out of doing new work to talk to us. So tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to since we last spoke with you?

For nine months starting October 2019, I attended an artist residency program at the Textile Art Center in Brooklyn, New York. There, I had the opportunity to experience weaving for the first time. I then moved to Kyoto, Japan and started going to a weaving workshop in Nishijin, the center of kimono weaving,to improve my skills and deepen my knowledge.  During my time at the Textile Art Center in Brooklyn,  I started using the scraps that are produced from when I make my own work. I started doing this  as a response to environmental issues. Here in Kyoto, I was able to get a lot of textile waste from the weaving workshop. In addition to the scraps produced from my work, I started incorporating threads and other objects from my daily life into my work. 

Since moving to Kyoto, I have made a hand-woven indigo-dyed kimono, a knitted kimono, a shirt made from the waste produced from knitting the kimono, and lace works that trace the shape of leggings and lingeries. I have produced a series of embroidery on the theme of insects, handprints, and feathers, a series where I collect small things to make the shape of infinity (∞), a series of hand embroidery that uses mohair yarn, and a series of lace pieces made with water-soluble fabrics using sewing machines.

How do you go about beginning a new piece? Do you have an idea already in mind, or do you start working with materials or sketches to find the departure point?

With my artist statement based on Buddha's preaching (impermanence, insubstantiality and suffering of life, and the importance of compassion to all living things) in mind,  I create my work using materials that I find as the most suitable. Silk organza, silk gauze, goose down, and cotton fiber have become common materials in my work. Familiarity with these materials, understanding their characteristics, and discovering new possibilities for expression often lead to new work.

After I started to incorporate  discarded items to my work, I began to closely observe the things around me and to explore their potential as materials. I believe this act can be a message for people to cultivate compassion for things and to rethink the consumer society in which people get goods to satisfy their desires, and then dispose of them easily.

When do you think your most prolific time of day or week is?

Is there any difference in the best times to work or when the ideas or inspirations are most vivid?

The most productive time is from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. When I go out during this time, I try to make up for that time from 4 pm to 7 pm. Productivity  is better during the daytime.The ideas and inspirations often come to mind during sleepless nights or when I am swimming in the pool.

What is a barrier you as an artist overcame? Is there anything that enabled you to develop your work as an artist in your life?

In the process of shifting my work from arts and crafts to contemporary art, what was important changed from "beauty" and "technique" to "meaning" contained in the work. The process of overcoming old concepts, understanding new ones and reflecting them in my work was a challenge for me. Being able to do this with the critiques from  faculty, students and visiting artists at Pratt was an important experience in my life as an artist.

Did you have an idea of what you wanted to create right from the beginning?

I have an image of what I want to make before I start making  the work. I do not have every detail decided like a plan for an industrial product. When adding color, I may enjoy combining the colors like a coloring book. When things don't go as planned, I may repeat trial production many times.

What is the meaning or creative inspiration for your work? We’re curious what the narrative or story is to what you are producing?

My work interprets the Budda’s philosophy(finiteness, uncertainty, discomfort of our life, and importance of compassion) and contains stories that substantiate those teachings. For example, I made a work on the theme of mosquitoes that are smashed after sucking human blood. Mosquitoes usually live by sucking nectar and grass juice. Sucking human blood is a life-threatening act of  pregnant female mosquitoes, to supplement the proteins needed for spawning. It's unpleasant to be bitten by a mosquito, but I hope that knowing that will make us a little more forgiving and that it will lessen the dislike towards mosquitoes.

Besides your artworks, are there any other things in life that your voice as an artist may consider vital or valuable? What makes you joyful and creative, in other words?

I currently live in a place blessed with nature. There is a garden behind my house, which is visited by various kinds of birds and insects. When small insects that I have never seen come out of the grass, I realize the diversity of life. It's fun to spend the day listening to the warbler's singing voice. Being surrounded by nature that changes with the season, I understand and accept the fragility of the world and feel more familiar with the living things. I feel that I am more motivated to create my work in this environment.

Are there any exhibitions or places where people can see these beautiful creations in person soon? Anything on the horizon?

I am participating in the online exhibition at CAC until October 14th. I was invited to the first Suzhou Craft Viennale in Suzhou, which will be held  from September 16th to October 31st, 2021. I will also exhibit at Art Laguna in Venice from October 2nd to 24th, 2021.

Website: https://www.aomikikuchi.com/