Maki Yamashita, Japan
Traces
Kimono fabric, silk thread, Japanese paper, wood, acrylic, bamboo; hand-stitched.
Toile de kimono, fil de soie, papier japonais, bois, acrylique, bambou; cousu à la main.
42.5 x 160 x 5 cm
2007
Artists' Books / Livre d'artiste
Artist's Statement:
From inside the scroll box: A year before my grandmother died, she gave me one of her kimonos that had been passed down through the generations in my family. I decided to use the fabric to cover some books I was making, and I started to unsew the kimono. As I snipped a stitch and carefully pulled the thin silk thread with my hand over and over, I started to feel the history of the kimono. Those stitches were made by someone I have never met, but whose blood I share, and the action of unsewing became a conversation between my ancestor and myself. As I pulled each stitch, I felt her presence, also holding the kimono in her hands, through mine. I felt her life and my life begin to resonate with each other. The stitches were the traces of her life, and I realized that I myself am also the trace of her life.