Thursday, April 23, 2009

Itchiku Kubota

Today I went to an exhibition at the Canton Art Museum titled "Kimonos" by the Japanese artist Itchiku Kubota. You can see some of them here: http://www.kimonoexhibit.com/exhibit.htm
but the pictures do not begin to show the amazing beauty of each piece. Each one is made of silk. The colors are dyed layer upon layer. It was like a tie dying. He has embroidered on them and used ink for detail. Each one took about a year to complete. His story is fascinating. He saw a small piece of fabric made with this technique, but was centuries old. He was able to duplicate the technique after years of work. The kimono with the sun on it is especially powerful. He was a POW in Siberia during WWII and the only thing of hope for him was the sunsets. The exhibit was stunning. It is hard to find words to describe it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those kimonos look pretty amazing, although I can see why they'd be more impressive in person than in a picture. What a nice way to spend the day.

stef said...

The pictures don't do them justice I'm sure. I love wearable art!