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Writer's pictureaomikikuchi

THE FIRST SUZHOW CRAFT ART BIENNALE 2021

The 13rd CHINA EMBROIDERY ART FESTIVAL

The opening Date : September 15. 2021

Exhibition period: September 16-October 30, 2021

at Mashan Visitor Center, High-Tech District, Suzhou, China


List of Work

Love for All Things- Shirt Front Right

Year: 2021

Media: Fiber Scraps:

Dimension: 25”L x12”W, 63 x30 (cm)



In the process of making a work, threads and cloth inevitably remain. This lace is finished in the shape of a shirt part using a sewing machine with those wastes and dead stock thread from a weaving workshop. I reused a design from my work, the Uchikake kimono titled Love for all Things. I try to give new value and meaning by finding new perspectives on what is considered useless and what I have previously created.



Love for All Things- Shirt Front Left

Year: 2021

Media:Fiber Scraps:

Dimension: 25”L x12”W, 63 x30 (cm)



Title: Step Forward

Year:2021

Medium: Silk Organza, Mohair Yarn, Embroidery

Dimension: 102”L x 31” W, 260 x 80 (cm)


This is an embroidery work titled "Step Forward". I stitch in an undyed thin silk gauze with undyed kid mohair yarn. It depicts a life-sized skeleton with the right foot protruding forward.

The skeleton is not a symbol of death for me. It is a symbol of equality for all animals with bones, as the skin color and gender differences associated with prejudice have been removed. My message is to acknowledge the fact that we all have the same bones and the human genome is 99.9% identical to all humans. Considering that it doesn't make sense to evaluate an individual's appearance can lead to a “step forward”.



Title: Transition

Year:2020

Medium: Hemp yarn, Silk thread, Goose down, Machine knitting, Lace making

Dimension: Life size of woman’s kimono/ 82”long x 86” wide, 208cm x 218(cm)


This work is based on the theme of ”Construction, destruction, and reconstruction” that I am currently working on. I think that the activities of the world are repeating these three cycles. Those produced in this world grow or age and break or die. Life does not rebuild itself, but takes the form of creating a new life. The substances that made up the star in the universe that has reached the end of its life will make up a new star somewhere. As the Buddha advocates, the world is impermanent and insubstantial, but I think that the activities will continue infinitely while changing their modes.

The reason for making this work was that I experienced a machine knitting workshop at the Textile Arts Center. After having been involved in dyeing kimonos for a long time, I decided to try knitting kimonos. Not only silk but also linen and cotton are used as materials for kimono, however, as for techniques, exclusively, a weaving technique has been used. Nowadays some designers propose kimonos using jersey materials and there was an exhibition in 2019 titled Off the Wall at the Philadelphia Museum of Art where kimono-themed pieces made of knit were exhibited. https://philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/wall-american-art-wear

When thinking about what a kimono is, I thought it would make sense to use an unconventional technique.

In kimono dyeing, needlework is sometimes applied to the finish using a technique called Japanese embroidery, but other than that, I have never thought of making holes in a piece of cloth or doing needlework. I feel the rigidity of the kimono fabric, which does not allow intervention other than dyeing. However, the knitted kimonos I made did not retain their knitted shape and curl up due to the nature of knits, or it grew steadily due to gravity. So I made a hole and made a spider web in the hole. And I filled the whole kimono with spider webs of various sizes. In those spider webs, goose-down round balls are studded with the image of the spider's extract and prey that immobilize the prey. I gave this work the title Transition. That is because my method was changed from a dyed kimono to a knitted kimono, and the knitted plain kimono was converted to a kimono filled with lace of spider webs. They are the manner of “transition” of construction, destruction and reconstruction.





Title: One Summer

Year: 2019

Media:Silk Organza, Wire, Silk Thread, Cotton

Dimension: 6”W x8”L, 15x20(cm)


In the summer of 2019,I met a beautiful dying dragonfly on the streets of Brooklyn. It is difficult to observe the dragonfly flying around vigorously, but since the dragonfly could not move anymore, I crouched down on the road and observed it from various angles. After that, I made a sculpture of the dragonfly at the Vermont Residency where I participated. Since then, I have been making insect embroidery and sculptures with textiles. Insects, such as cockroaches and mosquitoes, are relatively familiar creatures, but unlike dogs and cats, they are rarely loved by people, but rather disliked. However, on the other hand, silkworms that produce silk have been carefully kept since ancient times, and insect foods are attracting attention to secure food for the future.

I would like to convey a message that it is not only human beings living in this world, and it is important to foster mercy in order to protect the environment.




Title: Female Mosquito being Smashed Color

Year:2019

Media: Silk Gauze, Wire,Cotton, Pigment, Beads, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 4”, 15cm Round


I made a series of work on the theme of mosquitoes that are smashed after sucking human blood. Mosquitoes usually live by sucking nectar and grass juice. Sucking human blood is a life-threatening act of pregnant female mosquitoes, to supplement the proteins needed for spawning. It's unpleasant to be bitten by a mosquito, but I hope that knowing that will make us a little more forgiving and that it will lessen the dislike towards mosquitoes.



Title: Female Mosquito being Smashed White

Year:2019

Media: Silk Gauze, Wire,Cotton, Pigment, Beads, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 4”, 15cm Round




Title: Moment Female Mosquito being Smashed

Year: 2021

Media: Wire, Cotton, Goose Down, Silk Organza, Pigment, Resin

Dimension: 5cm Cube




Title: Moth

Year: 2019

Media: Silk Organza, Wire, Silk Thread, Goose Down, Pigment, Beads, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 4”, 15cm Round





Title: Crane Fly

Year:2019

Media: Silk Organza, Silk Thread, Pigment, Beads, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 4”, 15cm Round





Title: Damselfly

Year: Oct. 2020

Media: Silk Gauze, Wire, Silk Thread, Goose Down,Pigment, Glass Beads, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 4”, 15cm Round


The wings of the dragonfly are embroidered on the silk organza, and the body is three-dimensionally expressed using wires. The life of an ephemeral insect was overlapped on a delicate silk organza.



Title: Dragonfly Trapped

Year:2021

Media: Silk Organza, Cotton, Goose Down, Wire,Silk Thread, Pigment, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 20cm Round



Title:Captured-Spider

Year: 2020

Madis: Silk Gauze, Wire, Silk Thread, Human Hair, Goose Down, Pigment,Bamboo Hoop

Dimension:15cm Round


Huntsman Spiders are a natural enemy of cockroaches, and it seems that they will chase after cockroaches and enter the house. Although it can be said to be a beneficial insect for humans, when it enters the house, people try to get rid of it. Hair is a part of the body and is cherished, but as soon as it falls out, it is treated as dirty. By using the hair that has fallen out with the motif of the spider, I give an opportunity to think about human discomfort through this work.




Title: Feather

Year: 2021

Media: Silk Gauze, Wire, Hair, Pigment, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 4”, 15cm Round


Both feathers and hair are functional and become part of the body before they fall off the body. When they drop out, our feelings about them change. Feathers are a sacred symbol of Christianity, and while some feathers are used as accessories to decorate our bodies, hair is always considered disgusting.

When feathers are made of human hair, I'm curious about how people feel. This work can have more important implications, such as a memento to the death of the hair owner.





Title: My Hand-1

Year:2021

Media: Silk Gauze, Silk Thread, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 8”, 20cm Round


It is common to dislike hair loss, but recently, more and more people are doing "whole body hair removal", which removes all hair except hair and eyebrows. Hair has the role of keeping warm, thermoregulating, and protecting the body from physical damage and illness. In a society that hates hair so much, I made this work while wondering why only eyebrows and hair of head are important, and what has become of having hair on the palm.


Title: My Hand-2

Year:2021

Media: Silk Gauze, Silk Thread, Bamboo Hoop

Dimension: 8”, 20cm Round





Chief curator: Zhijie Qiu Executive curator: Xiaohan Yang Academic support: The School of Experimental Art,China Central Academy of Fine Arts Organizer: China Arts and Crafts Association China National Arts and Crafts Society China Cultural Industry Association Suzhou Municipal Government Sponsor: Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Industry Association Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Society Jiangsu Cultural Industry Association Management Committee of Suzhou High-Tech New District

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