「あかんよ、こんなん」って・・・・
めっちゃショックやん
これ、卒業制作、草木染、
東北のおばあさんの手紡ぎの糸。
考えて考え抜いてこれにした。
横縞はランダム、全体に織り方は市松に、イメージは 「能衣装」
その時の全身全霊をかけて作った。
美術館を借り切っての学校全体の卒業展覧会。
一人づつ評価が下される。
私、自信あったんです。
何ともガラスの向こうに飾られた 私の着物、 惚れ惚れしてたし・・・・
私の番、
「あかんよ こんなん！」 その一言・・・・・・・
食い下がったわ、 「なんでやのん！ わからへんわ」
小野先生に静かに言わはった。
「横縞、ランダムやろ、 これをパターン化したらよかったんや、
それが出来たらプロや、 わかったか、これは・・・あかん」
一瞬にして、大きな風船は割れました。
その後、残っていた糸でピンクから赤茶の鰹縞で帯を織りました。
これはもぉ、徹夜3日間。
先生のたっての希望、 「卒業式に着て欲しい」着させてもらいました。その後、何年か経って先生に聞きました。
「お前、あの時潰しとかんとこの道に入ったやろ、それはあかん。
お前には普通の結婚をしてもらいたかった」
女の人が織物を選ぶと「織物と結婚してしまう」とよく言われます。先生の周りにも独身のまんまの織り手や作家さんが沢山いらっしゃいます。そぉなって欲しくなかったと、
私が平凡な結婚をしたかどうかはいざ知らず、
兎に角、先生の企みは成功したのでした。
小野先生は和製モーガンフリーマンであります。
その内、この着物と帯、長くお世話になった友に託します。
きっと「迷惑や」ってゆうやろけどね、
小野先生、今度は何にも言わんでね、
"Your Kimono is not Good"
This Kimono was my final piece for College and it is a twill weave of squares. The pink color you see is made from lac dye. The Lac is an insect found on the prickly pear, which grows in Mexico. The blue is Japanese Indigo and combined with the brown thread it takes on a purple hue. The predominant rich browns are from sapang and catechu(malay for pine cones) of the acacia tree, a color no longer available in such richuess. The tree aere in Vietnam and were made almost extinct by defoliants used during the war in the 60's and 70's. The beige color also comes from the catechu.
In our final year we held an exhibition at the Museum Of Art in Nara and I worked on this Kimono on site along side my friend,as part of the exhibition. Hence I was influenced greatly by the musty oil-paint smell while working on this design, When L finished I felt had created a masterpiece i the midst of other works of art.
At our final assessment, my teacher bluntly said "No good work". I could not believe my ears because I felt that I had reached my full strength in making Kimono at that point. "That pattern is irregular and should have been shorter and repeated. You were supposed to produce material for a Kimono not a Tapestry."
I was so shocked and next he moved on to my friend work and gave it the highest praise. It was immediately put on sale in the Museum. Double heartbreak. He was my best friend, a second generation weaver from a household of weavers, producing a splash design that was very professional, but not to my test.
Obviously I was very young and head strong. At the end of the exhibition my teacher told me "Of course you are good" but it was too late. I did not speak to him for two or three years. Many years later my friend, when reminded of this incident, said "why do you get angry at trifles? " This incident still wrangles me, but my close friend is still my close friend and is still weaving.
The Final Thread
The Obi you see here was made at the same time as my final College Kimono. I made it at home and I had to hurry. the graduation ceremony was only a week away. It was made with the left over thread from the Kimono. As it turned out I was the only student to make bouth Obi and Kimono. After the ceremony, we spent our last day together in Nara Park, visiting the temples in our handmade costumes.
The thread for this Obi and Kimono was spun by an old lady(a friend of my teacher), who took a year to produce enough yarn for me. On a recent trip to Japan I spoke to my teachers window about the rich brown colors, about the acacia trees in Vietnam. She said she looks forward to seeing the book.
My teacher past away twenty years ago, who was looks like Morgan Freeman. When I want to see him I view movie, who was fiftyeigh forever.
Takako
2009.05.21
