Living in Japan, I am surrounded by amazing but mundane textiles. Though I have a deep appreciation for some of the finer textile processes that are usually connected with Japan such as silk brocade for obi, my main obsessions are silk screen and block printing on fabric. Usually printed on cotton or linen, they are used for door curtains, wrapping lunch boxes and presents, handkerchiefs, you name it. This fabric here, for example, is providing shade against the morning sun in a fish shop. What attracted me to this print was how it is both subtle and obvious, a contradiction that can be perfected through textile printing. (Yes, we are a fish shop but we aren't going to shout it.) And because they are somewhat easy to produce, it makes this sort of fabric affordable which means that they will really be used. When aesthetics and practicality merge, that is where I want to be.
