Enthralled by fabric and guided by her intuition, artistMariko Kusumotocreates sculptures inspired by the things that fascinate her.
The pieces, sometimes wearable, often revolve around the ocean, and marine inhabitantssuch as coralinspire the forms.
Kusumoto has been working with fabric for the last eight years.
For nearly two decades before that, however, she focused on metalwork.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Kusumoto about her artistic background and what shes working on now.
Scroll down to read My Modern Mets exclusive interview.
What is your artistic background?
There I learned about art in general, such as painting, sculpture, design, and art history.
I really had a great time, and then I went to an art college after that.
So, I was determined to become an artist at an early age.
When I entered art college in Japan, my major was oil painting.
Metal has been a familiar material to me since I was a child.
So I was always interested in metal.
After I took a small metal sculpture class, I began making three-dimensional metal sculptures using photo-etching techniques.
How did you come to work with textiles?
The result has been my fabric work.
Fabric is the complete opposite of metal.
The full potential of what I can do with fabric is still unknown to me.
Im on a journey to explore the endless, unlimited possibilities of this material.
How have your metalwork techniques informed your current body of work?
In my current fabric work, I use metal techniques in many different ways.
I use metal for structural support because fabric is a soft material.
I make my own metal molds to create the fabric shapes.
I make backings for brooches.
I also combine metal and fabric as part of the design.
My background with metal has been very useful and Im so glad to know how to work it.
Can you talk a little more about that?
I make a lot of discoveries while working on pieces that I never could have thought of in advance.
I always feel like the possibilities are endless and the ideas keep expanding.
How did you hone learning to follow this instinct?
What kind of things has it revealed?
Being exposed to a variety of good art trains and sophisticates your aesthetic sense and instincts.
What is the inspiration for your current body of work?
Im inspired by and learn from nature directly.
For example, one day I found a very beautiful brain coral at a flea market.
Because I was so fascinated by it, I learned how it was structured and recreated it with fabric.
Nature is the best teacher.
Im interested in sea creatures, plants, the microscopic world, diatom, cells, etc.
Im always fascinated by systematically formed shapes and moved by the wonder of nature.
Whenever I have the opportunity, I enjoy watching documentary films about the deep ocean.
I’m constantly amazed by creatures that Ive never seen before.
There are so many creatures that we havent discovered yet.
The ocean is full of mysteries.
Besides being inspired by nature, I am also inspired by the material itself.
Encountering different types of material in daily life is important to me.
Fabric is one of the most familiar of everyday materials.
I develop fabric pieces that reflect my strong interest in the material itself.
Fabric is inherently the opposite of metal, the material I previously worked with exclusively for many years.
I strive to bring out the fabrics inherent characteristics and beauty.
By using a proprietary heat-setting technique, I give it a new identity by reshaping it into three-dimensional forms.
What’s next for you?
Anything on the horizon you might tell us about?
Currently, Im getting ready for a solo exhibition at the Morikami Museum in Florida in May 2022.
I will be showing both sculptural and wearable fabric pieces.
I believe it will take me in another new direction.
