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A Phase of Light: Unfold 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting, hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 98.5 x 125

 

Detail: The Sources 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes,

 

 

 

Artist: Fuyuko Matsubara, Indiana, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Interview 48: Fuyuko was the winner of "Best Traditional" for "Phase of Light: Hope 2" in the Common Thread International Part 1exhibition in the 2009 World of Threads Festival.

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Interviews published by Gareth Bate & Dawne Rudman.

 

Biography

Fuyuko Matsubara was born and grew up in Sapporo, northern Japan. She moved to Tokyo for the purpose of studying at Musashino Art University, where she received a BA in Industrial and Craft Design, and an MA in Product Design. She started to exhibit her weaving work rigorously while she was in graduate school. After working as an interior designer and a professional artist, she came to the United States to study further at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan where she received an MFA in Fiber Art in 1984.

Fuyuko's main medium is pictorial weaving which involves complex methods of dyeing and re-weaving. Her development of an original weaving technique of "Combination of Painted Warp and Painted Weft" is extremely time consuming. It is internationally recognized along with her other worldly spiritual imagery and she has received many awards. Fuyuko's current theme for weaving is "A Phase of Light", expressing positive quality of light. She also works on silk painting and is working on the theme of "Light of Seeds," expressing energy of growth.

She has been exhibiting her work nationally and internationally in both solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums. Her work appears in numerous books and magazines such as Fiberarts, Surface Design Journal, and American Craft. She has received Individual Artist Grants twice from New York Foundation for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Hand Weavers Guild of America Awards, and the First Prize in "Fiberart International". She served at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a Senior Restorer and taught fibre and textile art courses in numerous institutions such as Syracuse University, University of North Texas, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Currently she is teaching at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

Artist: Fuyuko Matsubara in Venice.

 

Tell us about your work?

My main medium is weaving. I also work on silk painting. In both mediums, my focus is on pictorial expression. My work relates in many ways to traditional painting; instead of paints, I use dyes. The difference between my fibre work and traditional painting is that my work utilizes the techniques and materials unique to fibres. As I developed my imagery, I developed my own techniques.

With both mediums my intention is to express invisible worlds. I have been working on the theme that I refer to as "positive energy" for about twenty years. Currently I am working on a series of pieces entitled "A Phase of Light" with my weaving. Light has many positive attributes and provides energy in our lives. I pick one or two words to title each piece in this series. It is an interpretation of that aspect of light.

My weaving process is quite elaborate. I entitle my technique "A combination of warp painting and weft painting." I weave four white cloths first with my own plied yarn with different fibres. Then I paint with dyes. After washing, I take them apart and put them into one weaving. The images and colours are woven in, rather than on the cloth. It is a complex and time-consuming process and requires a detailed plan. Before I start weaving, I work on drawing and painting in order to develop my imagery.

 

Weaving Installation view, From left: A phase of Light: Recovery, Reflection, Early Morning, Support, The Lights, The Sources

 

From where do you get your inspiration?

While working on a piece, I always find something I would like to pursue more in depth. This can be the theme, weave structures, or colour combinations, so that my work is a source of inspiration in and of itself. Also, during meditations, images, titles, or compositions come to my mind. An abundance of beautiful natural surroundings always inspires me. For instance the colours of sunsets, streams or clouds, trees and hills covered with fog and mist, the intricate structures of spider webs with dew on them, and the mesmerizing colour gradations of flower petals.

 

In the Earth Installation view, 12 panels, 236 x 426, each panel= 78.5 x 106.5

The work consists of 12 panels. Each panel contains an image that is compositionally complete and may be viewed as an independent piece. The image of each panel "bleeds" into or connects to adjacent panels. Any combinations of adjacent panels may be viewed as one image. When the 12 panels are viewed together, they create a single composition entitled "In the Earth". The concept behind these arrangements reflects my view of the elements of the world as they may be dealt with individually or as groupings.

What I am trying to express in the pictorial image of "In the Earth " is "beings" (life forms) and their environment in the realm of the Earth. The image is representational and imaginative in order to express both visible and invisible dimensions. The beings in my imagery are constantly growing in their environment. The beings and the environment are interactive and interchangeable in terms of their forms because they are made of similar components that are like atoms. I refer to these components as "light corpuscles". The characters in my imagery are overlapped and layered in order to express my idea of the Earth as multi dimensional. Both micro and macro cosmic beings are co-residing in my imagery to simulate actual elements that can be found in the Earth.

 

 

Why did you choose to go into fibre art?

I wanted to work with materials. So I choose Craft and Industrial Design as my major when I applied to art school way back in Japan when I was a teenager. During my third year in college, I had to choose an area of study to concentrate. My first choice was not fibre because it attracted the most female students in our major at that time. After trying other areas, I changed my concentration to Textile. The reason is that it uses a wider range of colours than any other craft area. I started to weave and I found that weaving was such a deep subject to study so I continued to dig in. The more I dug, the more I learned, and I continued…

 

A Phase of Light: Hope 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 170 x 103

Detail: A Phase of Light: Hope 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 170 x 103

 

Which is your favourite fibre medium?

I like most fibre mediums. I like cloth, threads, yarn and fleece as many fibre artists do. I like to express my ideas through pictorial images with layers of colours and representative motifs. And I love the complexity of the constructions. So weaving and silk painting are great mediums for me. I also enjoy hand quilting and stitchery. I like raw material and love to construct with it. I enjoy convoluted building processes.

 

Detail: A Phase of Light: Hope 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 170 x 103

 

What other mediums do you work in, and how does this inform your work?

As I described before, I work on drawing and painting. I use pencils and colour pencils for drawing and I use watercolours, acrylics, and sometimes oils for painting. I use these mediums to plan my weaving work. My weaving process takes a tremendous amount of time so that finalizing images in drawing and painting is important. Drawing and painting take less time than weaving and the materials are easier to control than dyes. I use my drawing and painting to search for the right compositions, lines and colours.

My silk painting is so much more spontaneous and takes less time than any of the mediums I mentioned. I don't work on drawing for my silk painting. I just enjoy the free flow of lines and colours directly on silk.

 

 

A Phase of Light: Sprout 1, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 77.5 x 104

 

What specific historic artists have influenced your work? 

I love the strong spirits of Renaissance artists, especially Leonardo da Vinci. Although I have admired his work for a long time, especially his drawing work, it didn't hit me very hard until I travelled to Italy and saw his "Last Supper" in person. The trip to Italy convinced me that spirituality in artwork is the most important aspect. I admire the paintings, sculptures, objects around the world through which artists sincerely worked to convey and present spirituality. Although the outcomes and appearances are quite different from my work, the ways the artists pursued and practiced art in their lives influenced me.

I also love to look at Hieronymus Bosch's work for his imaginative and precise depiction of the world.

 

A Phase of Light: Moon 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 76 x 104

A Phase of Light: Recovery 1, quilting (silk, beads), Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 52 x 52

A Phase of Light: Early Morning 2, quilting (silk, beads), Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 52 x 52

 

What specific contemporary artists have influenced your work? 

Not contemporary, but modern artists, both Paul Klee and Hundertwasser have been the source of great inspiration. I admire their exquisite layers of colour, free spirits, and bold usage of free patterns. I liked Francesco Clemente's work about 20 years ago but I haven't seen his newer work. All of them seemed to me to enjoy working with colours, patterns, and forms freely. I like the joy and human spirits that they convey in their work in a somewhat unpretentious manner.

 

The Sources 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 122 x 183

Detail: The Sources 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes,

 

What other fibre artists are you interested in and why?

I like Norma Minkowitz's work. I saw her work here and there in some galleries without knowing her background. I still don't know that, but I really like her airy and mystical sculptural work. Her crochet technique is amazing, pushing limits. I found her approach to form stoic. Later I found her older work in some publications. Her development of forms and concepts over the years is truly admirable.

 

 

Detail: The Lights 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes,

Detail: Earth Elements part 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes,

 

What role do you think fibre art plays in contemporary art?

The distinction of areas in contemporary art is becoming more and more blurred. Many installation and sculpture artists use fibre as materials. Many fibre art programs in universities are disappearing or absorbed into sculpture programs in the U.S.A. On the other hand, creating home craft items seems to gain popularity. Among the chaos of contemporary art, fibre art also seems to be loosing its position. I hope art programs in universities support educators with sufficient knowledge of fibre mediums and its traditions.

 

Seeds of Light: Green, Silk painting, 77 x 64

 

Tell us about your studio and how you work:

My studio is at home. My husband is also an artist. We don't have any children. So our home is our studios. I use one bedroom as a loom room. The living room area is for my painting and construction. I have a large tabletop with Formica in the studio. One bedroom is used for an office and library. The whole cellar is my husband's studio.

I have a full time teaching position at a university. It makes it pretty difficult to find time and peace of mind during semesters. I usually use my summer break for my weaving work. I also like to work on plans, such as drawings and paintings over the quiet summer.

 

My loom work in progress

 

Which World of Threads Festival/s have you exhibited in?

I participated in the Common Thread 2009.

 

What was your motivation for submitting your work to the World of Threads Festival?

It was an international exhibition in fibres. The exhibition sites seemed accessible and able to attract a large number of people from Toronto and the surrounding areas. Also the website was very informative and comprehensive.

 

 

Seeds of Light: Cycle, Silk painting, 56 x 56

Lightscape, Silk painting, 68.5 x 66

 

Where do you imagine your work in five years? 

Five years from now, I visualize myself to be an independent artist. This means that I will retire from a university full time teaching position. At the beginning of my independence, I would like to study traditional painting more in depth in order to realize my visions more substantially. I will be producing both larger scale works for public spaces, while at the same time producing smaller works for people to enjoy on an individual basis. I would like to continue teaching in all sorts of venues while enjoying travelling. Also I would like to start an art related business with my husband. We will be selling items for enriching people's lives.

 

 

Seeds of Light: Beginning, Silk painting, 50.5 x 50.5

Detail: Seeds of Light: Content, Silk painting

 

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about you or your work that we have not covered?

When I was an art school student in Japan, I didn't think traditional and ethnic textile work was interesting. When I came to Cranbrook Academy of Art for graduate studies in fibres, my teacher Gerhardt Knodel suggested that I look back at my cultural background and also this led me to a richer appreciation of historical and ethnic textiles. Moreover, my experience working as a textile restorer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, greatly influenced me in the way I look at textile as an art form. In the past, people created textile work with great passion and finesse with their hands and spirits. It was definitely a great part of our human lives. I embrace the tradition and hope to carry it on.

 

A Phase of Light: Unfold 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting, hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 98.5 x 125

 

 

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Interviews published by Gareth Bate & Dawne Rudman.

 

 

A Phase of Light: Hope 2, Weaving: combination of warp painting and weft painting hand plied yarn of cotton, silk, linen, and rayon, fiber reactive dyes, 170 x 103