As I have announced before, on March 30th starting from 18:00 there will be an exhibition featuring my handmade dolls. If you are in Vienna or in the area, I would be delighted to see you there. It is a special event only on this date.
There are two ways of making my dolls. The first is: starting with the doll. The second is: starting with the material. The first way is in order to depict a situation with a doll. I want to express a situation with a doll and therefore I focus on making an appropriate figure for it. First thinking about the doll and after that I think about the clothes. The second way is choosing the material such as textile, wool , etc. which gives me inspiration. For example beautiful fine wool inspires me to use like human hair and to create a matching doll for this. Especially beautiful textile design motivates me to create a matching doll for it. About 10 years ago I had a bit of luck and stumbled upon some stores in Vienna and in Japan which sold small textile samples. In my hometown Kochi (Japan) by chance I stumbled upon a store, which sold many different small textile samples. Because that store was a big store for cloth and textiles and had planned to close the store soon, everything was on sale or in small sizes also at reduced prices. Most of the samples had a print on the edge “designed in Japan” and maybe also for that reason they were a good fit for my taste. I was so fascinated by the textile design and some are so sweet and some just beautiful and some feature interesting geometrical shapes and others have patterns similar to traditional Japanese kimono patterns. Most of the samples had a print on the edge “designed in Japan”and maybe also for that reason the way were a good fit for my taste. Also in Vienna fortunately I found many samples “made in England” at a very reasonable price. I was so fascinated by those samples that I would almost like to frame them but I think these designs were made in order to create something from them. It is obvious that the design was made for that. If I were good at sewing I would also been able to make objects like small pouches , pencases, etc. When I look at those designs, suddenly I had an image what the doll should look like with that specific pattern. That was so entertaining and fun. Most of my dolls have been created out of the image I had from the textile sample. First cloth and second doll. You could call my dolls fashion models. Because I wanted to make small dolls, their clothes were small too and in order to enjoy them, the clothes could not be overly complicated. Therefore they almost always wear wide skirts.
人形を作る時、私の場合、だいたい2通りのパターンがあるようです。1つは、人形から始める場合。2つは、材料から始める場合。1つめは、状況などを人形を使って表したい場合です。まず、どんな人形で状況を表現できるかを考え、次にその人形に合った服装を選びます。2つめの場合は、まず、毛糸や布地があって、それからインスピレーションを得るという形。例えば、細い繊細な毛糸は人間の髪の毛を想わせることがあります。それで、この毛糸を髪の毛にして、これに合った人形を作りたいな、と思い始めるのです。特に、私にとっては、布地のデザインが創造の源であることが多いです。10年ほど前、ウィーンと日本で、ハギレを売っているお店を見つけることができ、それにより私の人形作りに拍車がかかりました。 特に、故郷高知の大きな服地屋さんが閉店するにあたって、セールをしていたことにより、私は安価にたくさん、少なく切った布地を買うことができました。素晴らしいデザインの数々で、かわいいものや、美しいもの、素敵な幾何学模様や、和柄など。私は時を忘れてそれらを眺めて幸福な気持ちになります。布の端に「designed in Japan」と表示されているものが多いので、私の好みに合っているのでしょう。また、ウィーンでもイギリスでデザインされたという表示のあるハギレを安価にたくさん買う機会に恵まれました。私はこれらのデザインから感銘を受け、額縁に入れて飾り、眺めたいと思うほどでした。しかし布地のデザインというものは、それで何かを作ることを考慮して施されていると思うようになりました。もし私がお裁縫が得意なら、ペンケースなど作れたかもしれません。しかし私の場合、これらの柄に合った人形を考え出すことに大きな喜びを覚えたのです。先ず、布があって、それから人形を考え出すのです。まるで人形がファッションモデルであるかのようだと思います。しかし小さい人形なので、あまり難しい洋服は私は作れません。柄を眺めて楽しめるように、多めに布を使用して、ゆったりとしたギャザースカートを着せることがほとんどです。
Ever since I was a child I wanted to make dolls. After many and long tries, about ten years ago I started to make dolls with “Fimo” material. Some time I made many many dolls. Right now I am pausing but in the future I would like to make more dolls. The thought of making dolls presumably has to do with memories of my childhood. My mother was really good at sewing and she made a doll from fabric for me. Unfortunately it is made from cloth and the face was drawn on with a pen and got washed out, the eyes being quite realistic which I found a little frightening. Of course I was happy and grateful for that, I was about four or five years old at that time. Back then, I became friends with the children from the house on the other side of the street, where I used to live (Saiwai-cho in Kochi City). From them I heard that their grandmother was making dolls. One time I was allowed to look in their grandmother’s room and it was astonishing because everywhere in the room there were beautiful dolls. They were so beautiful and I assume she was a professional. I guess the dolls were made of cloth and very precise in all details. I think I saw some realistic dolls wearing Kimonos. Ever since I saw that, I also wanted to make dolls. Another memory from back then is that my father used to work at a high school (Ozu High School in Kochi city). One day some of his students came to our house to visit him. I think they all collected money together and brought a doll for me. She was so wonderful like the ones the grandmother from the neighbouring house made. She was a European elegant lady with a beautiful marron-coloured hairdo, a pearl-like necklace and wearing a rosé coloured semi-long dress. She was sitting on a small chair, both legs closed, stretched to the side below the knees. Her beautiful legs were slim and curvy, wearing high-heel shoes with pointed tips. She was in a plastic box and unreachable and she is only loking at me with her beautiful big eyes. She is still at my house in Japan and gives me happiness. When I see her, I think about the day I received her and I can relive that moment in gratitude.
As a dollmaker, I am entirely self-taught. I have studied singing thoroughly and deeply, which is my profession. But when making dolls, I want to express my creativity freely and spontaneously. Therefore I will never reach such a high level as my neighbours’ grandmother but for the time being, I am really happy and satisfied with that.
Now is the season of yellow ginkgo leaves flying in the wind. “… and what else…?”. She is looking at her mother’s notes and is off to do the groceries. “Miko Chan do your best!”. Pochi is accompanying and supporting her.
Opera, theatre, concerts, exhibitions… Autumn is a wonderful time for cultural activities. Let’s dress up and go! オペラ、演劇、演奏会、展覧会… 秋は文化の催しがいっぱい。さあ、おしゃれをして出掛けましょう!
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