I was introduced to work of the artist Junko Oki by a reader who was embarking on a trip to Japan and was hoping to see her work first hand. Junko Oki has just had an exhibition at the Shiseido Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
“the moon and the pupa” Embroidery Exhibition transforms your perception of embroidery.
This is how it’s described by the online magazine Asahi Shimbun Digital “By exploring the subjects such as the fundamental desire and incarnation of human creative activities, we will explore unique expressions that can not be caught in existing genres such as embroidery and crafts”.
You can view beautiful images of her exhibition here:
JUNKO OKI Tokyo exhibition July 2017
Junko Oki was born in 1963 in Urawa, Saitama. Lives and works in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture. Her bio on her website explains her characteristic style which uses embroidery as her artistic medium:
“In 2002, Oki began embroidering fabric handed down to her by her mother, using a style all her own. She has since held exhibitions in Japan and abroad. Oki hand-stitches without using a sketch, deliberately employing fine sewing machine thread. Her dense stitches, which seemingly yearn to totally express her inner world, possess an overwhelming power that transcends the concept of embroidery. In 2014, Oki published a collection of her own photographs, PUNK (Bungei Shunju), and her unique creative vision captured broad interest. “ She now exhibits outside of Japan in Europe and has gained a formidable following for her expressionistic, even “anarchistic” approach to embroidery. It shows how needle and thread can make a beautiful and powerful artistic form.
