2003 -
present
present
Guest Lecturer: Kwantlen University;
Capilano University;
University of the Fraser Valley
Capilano University;
University of the Fraser Valley
1987-2003
Instructor: Fashion Program,
Universtiy College of the Fraser Valley,
Abbotsford, British Columbia
Universtiy College of the Fraser Valley,
Abbotsford, British Columbia
1987-92
1998-03
1998-03
Instructor: Textile Arts,
Capilano University, North Vancouver
Capilano University, North Vancouver
Education and Awards
1982-87
Master of Education,
University of British Columbia
1999, 2004
Nominee, Prix Saidye Bronfman Award
for Excellence in the Crafts
for Excellence in the Crafts
2003
Honourable Mention, Wearable Expressions,
Palos Verdes Art Center, California, USA
Palos Verdes Art Center, California, USA
2004
First Prize, Dressed to Thrill,
Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, USA
Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, USA
2005
Best in Show and First Prize,
Wearable Art Awards,
Port Moody Art Center, Port Moody,
British Columbia
Port Moody Art Center, Port Moody,
British Columbia
2006
Second Prize, Wearable Art Awards,
Port Moody Art Center, Port Moody,
British Columbia
Port Moody Art Center, Port Moody,
British Columbia
My heritage is reflected in the textiles I use where the ancient Japanese ancestry that inspires me is blended with the new ideas and processes of the modern world that enriches my work. A strong sense of family that connects and comforts me is fused with my art. My identity was reborn when I attended a workshop with Hiroyuki Shindo, Indigo Master and contemporary shibori artist in Japan in 1983. At that time, I visited Arimatsu where arashi shibori, indigo dyed cotton for kimonos, was developed over centuries.
The ancient process of creating arashi shibori produces an undulating surface evocative of the ever changing waves of the ocean reminiscent of my family’s ancestral island that is part of an island nation. The waters surrounding Canada are also influential as I use sea anemones and other sea forms extensively as themes in my work. Teaching has kept me open to western processes. The reciprocal relationship between teacher and student has enriched and nourished my ideas and affirmed endless possibilities by which to view and create art.
Technically, my personal processes have evolved from the traditions of arashi shibori in Arimatsu where fabric is wrapped on thirteen foot poles. Artists, including traditionalists, now use plastic. I have adapted this process and when I use hot dyes and discharge baths, I employ metal poles that produce sharp pleats with a strong retentive memory.
I use silk produced in a small family mill in Gunma Prefecture in Japan that has the sericin left in. This crisp raw silk responds well to crafting sculptural forms and allows me to manipulate the undulating pleats into wall pieces and artwear. Screen printing on this silk with metallic paints adds further body. As in nature itself, my art can at once be both delicate and durable.
My goal is to continue to explore shibori’s possibilities, to combine it with western aesthetics and to always respect and honour the craft’s folk beginnings. In this way I am able to make memory visible. Through the folds of arashi shibori that imprint memory on the fabric and the textile surface that remembers the dye, I record the values and sense of self that have been bestowed on me.
– Yvonne Wakabayashi
