Takashi Iwasaki embroidery

Midoriyaamehatzga
Embroidery floss and fabric (hand embroidered)

 I happened upon Takashi's beautiful embroidery work through an email filled with lot's of lovely inspiration awhile ago now and the post got tucked away by other inspiration. Upon finding it again today I delved a little deeper and found his artistic statement on his website about how and why he makes art the way he does. Not only does his attention to detail and workmanship astound me but I also admire the sense of purpose his art has. I'm wishing I had my own statement about my work (and that I could embroider like that!!)

Minotogetenti

"Art making is an essential part of my life. I like being in a fluid state more than in a static state. I prefer to be able to work with more than one medium and I like to be flexible in my thoughts and practice. Thus my art discipline tends to explore a broad range of works from formal abstract to representational, conceptual, and symbolic. Shapes and colors in my paintings and drawings evoke figurative qualities which embrace a kaleidoscope of emotions."

Suieiy

"Life is too short to take gravely all the time. I want to delight in what I can when I can. Having this as my essential philosophy, my goal of art making is to create a positive and playful atmosphere, and generate warm feelings of intimacy and substance through my work. My current tendency toward making smaller pieces with a multicolored palette is deeply related to the achievement of this goal."

Lizaceview

"I use various media to create my work, for instance; hand embroidering is the most time-consuming and painstaking method of art-making which in turn engages my thinking process differently from the other methods I use, such as collage making, drawing, painting, printmaking, and other graphic/web-design-related creations. Working with various kinds of media is very important for me to keep my thoughts and ideas fluid and flexible."

Clariomp

"I am aware that I also enjoy creating works that have negative implications. In this sense, my creation of positive images works as a counter-response to my own works in addition to the media images of the world. In this way I construct a sort of antithesis that is more about creating a balance of negative and positive; the "yin and yang." It is a part of my philosophy of seeking balance that one should not be too much stronger than the other."

Densentodatnokatachi

"I enjoy creating works in the pursuit of my own aesthetic language. Expanding my visual vocabulary will be for me an everlasting pursuit. For this reason I am concerned with the presence of formal qualities in my work - balance, color, composition, contrast, push-pull effect, shape, texture, variety of mark makings, visual weight, and so on. Creating visual movements in relation to the formal elements is also an interesting way for me to increase my vocabulary and develop my language as an artist (what I call an “art enjoyer”)."

Takashi Iwasaki
Revised on June 07, 2007

Kinokinoghetti