February is winding down, and the thing that sticks out the most is that I didn’t really get out much, besides the usual grind of work, grocery shopping, dentist appointments and the like. Not a great start to Hibisanpo.
I did go for a stroll with a buddy of mine through Kappabashi, the kitchen and cutlery district for the first time since the pandemic. It’s a touristy area, and during the pandemic it was a particularly grim, shuttered, and abandoned part of town. It was good to see that a lot of the traditional shops had survived. One shop had a small bowl filled with ceramic bobbles floating in water placed outside the entrance. It’s the little things done with great care that get me.
Yes, Hello:
I was asked to do a brief interview recently, and the questions were really thoughtful. One of the prompts was asking about a recent piece I had beaten working on. Recent is a bit of a subjective idea for me, but this coat has been an ongoing project for a few months:
Here is an excerpt from that interview. I hope it gives some insight.
I’ve been working on this stained but deadstock bright blue French workwear coat since about October of 2023. At first I thought I would just do some light patchwork and applique for it for the fashion exhibition I joined in Osaka in December of 2023. I put down the first layer of patchwork on the back, and immediately didn’t like it, it looked too forced and kitsch. A deadstock jacket doesn’t really need repairs. So I decided to do really intricate embroidery on it, somewhat on a whim instead. I’m a big fan of primary colors, so I decided on yellow thread, thinking it looked really good with the blue.
The jacket has very intricate circles done in the blanket stitch. I like circular motifs for a lot of reasons. To me they represent wholeness. The verse in the poem Widening Circles by Rainer Maria Rilke “I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world” has a deep personal meaning to me.
As a side note, through a lack of direction after quitting a music performance degree in the French horn at university, and a deep desire to avoid anything related to math or science, I accidentally got a history degree, specializing in Chinese-Tibetan relations and Indian and Nepalese theology and history. This is all to say that I became interested in the idea of the tradition of the prayer wheel from those cultures, and the spinning circular movement. I also find the meditation practice from India and Tibet known as “Tonglen” to be very beautiful. To put it simply, it’s an exercise in compassion. As you breathe in, you consider another’s pain, taking it as your own, and as you breathe out you think love and compassion in their direction. It’s like little small prayers. Like silently saying to yourself when you see someone struggling, “yes, hello, I see you, I’m thinking good thoughts for you now, I hope these good thoughts will somehow benefit you.”
As I have worked on this jacket, even though it is based on my own color preferences, it is very obvious that it also evokes the colors of Ukraine. So what was once a simple mending project has become a longer ongoing project. “Yes, hello, I see you, I’m thinking good thoughts for you now.” Not just for Ukraine. Anyone and everyone struggling, these are sad times. I don’t think I will cover the entire coat, but it’s certainly not done yet. I hope I can exhibit it one day.
I’m currently listening to the Georgia O’Keefe biography by Roxana Robinson. It’s over 20 hours long, but so far is excellent. Recommend!
I’m participating in This event at the end of March. I’m a little worried because it is another fashion event, and I’m not sure how I fit into it, but I’m doing my best to prepare for it and I hope it goes well.
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