Nao Fukumoto
I weave cloth using the traditional Japanese technique of Ikat and floating warp using fine British and Japanese silk, wool and linen, which I dye by hand with natural materials.
Creating shawls and wall hangings using the same skills inspired from kimono weaving. I am always thinking about how to make beautiful cloth by hand considering materials as an artwork. By using natural dyes and hand waving, mean that every piece I create has subtle variation in colour and pattern that ensure no two pieces are exactly the same.
I find inspiration in natural form, pattern and colour, through objects like pebbles, shells and bark that embody the landscape I inhabit, I study the way they are assembled and translate this into the language of the wrap and weft, their story becoming the vertical and horizontal interplay, creating a motif that is both simple to understand and complex in its endless variation.
Education
2006 M.F.A Okinawa Prefecture University of Arts, Japan
2005 The Surrey Institute of Art & Design M.A. exchange program, UK
2004 B.F.A Okinawa Prefecture University of Arts, Japan
Awards
2009 Selected to sell work at Kobe Fashion Museum, Kobe, Japan.
2008 Selected work Textile Competition Silk Museum, Yokohama, Japan.
2007 Third Prize International Contemporary Textile Art Competition, Italy.
Selected works Asahi Contemporary Craft Competition – Osaka/Yokohama, Japan.
Honourable mention Hyogo Arts Crafts and Design Competition, Hyogo, Japan.
Selected works Osaka Craft competition, Osaka, Japan
2006 First Prize for Best Woven Fabric at Hyogo craft Grand Prix, Hyogo, Japan.
Exhibitions
2010 A.I.R. exhibition at Bellis Gallery, Brighton, UK
A.I.R. exhibition at James Hockey Gallery, Surrey, UK
2009 Solo exhibition at the Gallery & Salon, Abiesfirma-Kobe, Japan
2008 Hyogo All Arts Group exhibition, Japan
2007 Solo exhibition at The Museum of Arts & Crafts Itami, Hyogo, Japan
2005 Group exhibition at Nishijin Factory Garden, Kyoto, Japan
Shuyatou “Two Person Exhibition”, Tokyo, Japan
Commissions
2006 Restoration and Recreation of a historic Japanese Bushi Kimono for Nasunoyoichi Traditional Memorial Museum, Tochigi, Japan