Shumei Kobayashi, Melbourne, Hoddle grid, 2009
Summary
'In a world created by art legend Soetsu Yanagi, and mentored by a number of Living National Treasures from a variety of practices, a young Shumei Kobayashi discovered a talent for traditional Japanese dyeing practices and a critical intellectual approach to the identity of the artist. Eschewing the traditional Japanese practice of the studio, Shumei is the only practitioner of the 400 year old "tsutsugaki" dyeing process who is master of the entire process from concept to final artwork.
With no stencil, tsutsugaki is the technique of painting directly onto fabric. Master of both silk and hemp dyeing, Kobayashi’s power as an artist is strongest in his contemporary interpretations of the traditional noren, hanging curtain. His bold designs, often abstracted visions of various ideas of "connected-ness" (weaving), sit as dynamic contrasts to the sensual texture of their background fabric – finely woven linen or thick chunky strands of hemp ...'
Lesley Kehoe, 'Shumei Kobayashi Weaving the Future' catalogue, Lesley Kehoe Galleries, 2010
Artist Statement
Put the resist paste in the tube; feel it squeeze through my hands as I transfer the design from concept to reality; cover the woven cloth with nori resist and using a variety of specially selected brushes, start to add the colours. My imagination flows with the dyes.
Next, borrow the elemental powers of water, fire, air and time to settle the colours; use nori again to cover the design, and brush in the background; fix the background colour once again through the grace of fire and water, air and time; with a final rinsing, there are the lines of my design, the clarity of the background…and the manifestation of my creative soul … so then, today, tomorrow, what fabric, what design?
Shumei Kobayashi
