Kumi Tukada

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item 1:

My 凸凹 -
Deko-Boko

'Mossy Crepe'

    
Materials: tussah silk, & linen yarns
Techniques: Hand & machine knitting, tie-dye
Sizes: L 85 x W 70 cm
Date Made: 1999
 

This work is composed of twelve rectangular pieces of exactly the same size. Each has been radically altered using tie-dye effects, such as warping. I took a lot of time over these alterations because they were an important part of my design. The process inevitably creates many incidental and unforseen effects and accepting these as they happen is an important part of the work. I've called the work 'Mossy Crepe' because it resembles moss-covered trees.

item 2:

My 凸凹 -
Deko-Boko

'Rough Skin'

    
Materials:

tussah silk, wool, mohair, & linen yarns.

Techniques: Hand & machine knitting, tie-dye
Sizes: L 85 x W 75 cm
Date Made: 1999
 

"Deko-Boko" means a kind of decorative, surface patterning. I achieve this in my work by treating it with tie-dye effects. My works goes through several processes. At the start of this piece I dyed many threads, but from them I selected only the ones that matched the image I had in mind. I knitted them using a hand-knitting machine. I made several pieces of plain knitting of varying widths, and then tie-dyed them. It was only when I re-organized them that the final work began to take shape. You can see that this work has something of the fantastic flavour of "Deko-Boko" which occurs naturally on the surface of wood. 

item 3:

My 凸凹 -
Deko-Boko

'Scabrous Rocks'

    
Materials:

tussah silk, linen yarns

Techniques: Hand & machine knitting, tie-dye
Sizes: L 80 x W 75 cm
Date Made: 2001
 

Once when I was out walking I came across a stone fence encrusted with lichen. It made me think of a dried out scab. This work, based on that image, is made from several rectangular and triangular pieces of cloth.


about my work

I often go to the countryside to walk in the fields and forests, and along riverside paths. I sometimes get the sensation that something has called out to me from behind my back. I stop and glance back to see what’s going on. There are rotted trees and a broken tin fence on which the paint is peeling off. There seems to be nothing special there. They look like just the sort of things that you would expect to find by the wayside in such a place. Nobody would take much notice of them. To me, though, it all looked very beautiful, especially when the sun shone and the sunshine shimmered through the leaves to cast their shadows. They were grey-looking in the light and they interested me more than anything else along the small and narrow paths.

Along the riverside I really enjoyed looking at the mossy rough surface of the trees, the rocks and cracks in them. I always remember this feeling when I find something which is gradually falling into decay, following on from brighter moments. These things don’t seem like rubbish to me but are what I find most interesting. They have all shades of colors, from vivid green to dirty brown. I am fascinated with them and retain them in my mind, and I finally found a way, using tie-dye, to capture these strange things found in nature.

 

materials & process of production

I seldom use knitting yarns when I knit. Instead I mostly use yarns that are normally used for weaving in textile factories. My products are made from a variety of materials. Silk is the main material, but I also use hemp, wool, cotton and other kinds of material. They are all grown naturally, in one way or another. They give the work an abundance of colour. This is due to their inherent characteristics. When I use silk and hemp together with artificial metal dyes, there is an apparent difference between the two. Silk is an animal fiber and dyes well, but hemp is a plant fiber that scarcely takes dye at all. I use whatever materials are best suited to provide the colours I want.

My works are made up of two or more kind of threads. Silk is solid but mohair feels soft when touched. Each thread has a particular texture. I also use coarse and fine threads together. Many kinds of thread can form into infinitely complex structures which can have the effect of dimming a colour. They are tie-dyed after knitting. While knitting I try hard to echo the swells and bumps that result from the tie-dye process. I use a hand-knitting machine for this. One of my fundamental aims is to bring "Deko-Boko" to my works. The overall form is composed of several small pieces. Some are long and thin, some rectangular and others triangular. Each of them is tie-dyed once more and reassembled into the final shape. This is how I go about matching my works to the image I had in my mind.