Yumiko Kawaï
Born on 1979, living in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Has been participating in “Atelier Yamanami” since 1997.
While she likes chatting with her friends and staff members, Yumiko embroiders by herself, cherishing her time alone. She quietly moves her needle sitting down by herself in the corner of dining hall or lounge.
Yumiko’s embroideries are made of “circles.” Depending on the size of base cloth, she decides rough arrangements and draws a draft with a pencil. She then follows the outlines piercing her needle to the base cloth with a unique method of stitching obliquely back to where it began. While she simultaneously works on multiple “circles,” the density of stitches is different from one circle to another, and multiple circles appear with various expressions on a single base cloth. As Yumiko keeps stitching in layers, “circles” raise to take a cone-shape obtaining a solidity and massiveness.
Preface : Yukiko Koide & Raphaël Koenig
Foreword : Christian Berst.
Catalog published to mark the exhibition Japan Brut : the moon, the sun, yamanami, from August 31st to October 5th, 2019.