#2293 CutOuts Floor Pillows

The ‘CutOuts’ floor pillows were designed for the site specific exhibition ‘project #2293‘. The designs are a playful take on the shapes, texture and colour found within the Eichler home in which they were exhibited; modernist wooden panelled walls, globe ceiling lights, interspersed with brightly coloured furniture and the odd children’s toy. Inspired by some floor pillows seen in this photograph of Charles and Ray Eames in their living room in 1958, the ‘CutOuts’ floor pillows were designed as a set of six, to be stacked, switched around or used individually on the floor.

‘CutOuts’ Floor Pillows, Limited Edition of 5 of each design.

Size: 18×18″ / Material: Digital Print on Poly Linen / Filler: Organic Buckwheat Hull / Durable & machine washable

 

#1#2#3#4#5 #6

Framed furoshiki

Lovely to see people enjoying my furoshiki on their wall! Yay! I keep meaning to frame one for home but still a haven’t got around to it …

 Photo from zivastrnad

 Photo from projectpalermo.com

San Mateo Eichler Home Tour

Last weekend some of my pieces found new homes, picked up at the San Mateo Highlands Eichler Home Tour http://eichlerhometour.org/. Big thanks to amazing Ami who helped me out once again. We met lots of interesting people and toured some beautiful homes. Needless to say I left feeling super inspired!

 

 

 

project #2293

March 13th – March 18th 2017

A site-specific exhibition of suburban stories in curious times.

Lucinda Newton-Dunn, Martha Sakellariou and Christina Vervitsioti.

Three Royal College of Art artists and friends reconnect in Palo Alto, California after two decades living in different parts of the world. Using a suburban home as their source of inspiration, themes are explored around suburban life, architecture, domesticity and identity. This exhibition is designed to elicit visual stories about the house in which it is shown, the life of its inhabitants, its patterns and forms as seen from three different angles.

http://www.project2293.com

47 textiles today

 

Photos from 47 textiles today.

One week left! It’s your very last chance to catch this exhibition at Hikarie in Shibuya. Presented by D&Department project, this exhibition showcases textiles from across 47 prefectures in Japan. Link represents the prefecture of Kanagawa, where Link furoshiki are hand-printed. What a great idea, and it is a great privilege to be included!

47 textiles today

Start : 21st, November 2013

Close : 2nd, February 2014
Opening time : 11:00〜20:00
Address : 8F 2-21-1 Shibuya Shibuyaku Tokyo 〒150-8510

Link – at the Centre Pompidou.

‘Objects’, ‘Folded Paper’ and ‘Dots’ Link furoshiki are now available at Centre Pompidou in Paris! http://www.centrepompidou.fr/

Link – Winter 2013.

Yay, Link’s winter furoshiki are out! Please take a look …

My latest design ‘Dots‘ is available in blue, black and rust. The design continues along the theme of folding and wrapping. Hours of paper folding and experimenting went on behind the scenes, which was a lot of fun … perhaps I’ll share some sketches at a later date.

Also launched this winter season is ‘The Hida Express‘, another beautifully intricate design by Hannah Waldron (designer of the Maze furoshiki, Winter 2012) based on a train journey she took through the Japanese Alps.

Quill

“#2 of our top ten treats for mums… A silk-cotton furoshiki cloth to wear as a scarf, tie into a spring-time bag (below) and plenty more ideas in store. Don’t forget – use code LOVE10 for a special 10% off until 8th March.”

http://www.quilllondon.com/home-office-desk-accessories/furoshiki.html

Update … Link

 

It’s February 2013 already, and this blog has been so neglected!

There’s been a lot of activity amongst the Link collective since I last wrote. 2012 has been busy! We saw the introduction of Link’s popular leather carry strap (designed and handmade by director Kyoko), some beautiful work from a new collaborator in London, Hannah Waldron, who also presented with Kyoko at PechaKucha Night in Tokyo. A fresh collection of new furoshiki designs and colours, and some really great photos from photographer Martin Holtkamp.  An interview with Link’s printers was published online by spoon-tamago in July, giving a rare look behind the scenes. To end the year, Winter colours were released and Kyoko flew to New York where she ran a small Link furoshiki workshop.

2013 is already underway, keep your eye’s peeled for more …

Wrap yourselves up in love.

Link furoshiki are still for sale at Plastica, Etsy and Loopto.

At last … LINK is officially announced!

After lots of work, we are very excited to officially announce the launch of our limited edition furoshiki!

Two original designs, hand-printed in Japan on 100% cotton. Please take a look at our site: http://thelinkcollective.com/.

Work in progress

We just received a photo from our printer in Tokyo showing our new project in progress … I’m very excited. I’ll announce more about it very soon!

Marimekko

What can I say … I’ve always loved Marimekko, but these things … well, they’re beautiful! Both porcelain plate and teapot are designed by Sami Ruotsalainen for the In Good Company collection.

Heath Ceramics

I popped into Heath Ceramics on Beverly Blvd the other day. I loved their store. It was like a breath of fresh air. Very beautifully done, with so many beautiful objects and colours everywhere. I loved the way they’d used some of their glaze tests to tile certain areas, and as well as all their lovely ceramics, they had a nice selection of books and home ware. I have to admit that I particularly fell in love with this tea towel by Enormous Champion.

Osborn Shoes

Osborn Shoes – designed in Brooklyn by Carla Venticinque-Osborn & Aaron Osborn, these very unique shoes are handcrafted by artisans in Guatemala City. The fun and beautiful fabrics range from hand blocked Kente cotton fabric, to thick woven cotton from India and almost certainly some Guatemalan fabrics in there too. Wow.

Aiko

I’m not a big fan of tie-dye, but I think this sweatshirt by Aiko is beautiful.

+81 jinbei

Take a look at +81. Keiko made this really lovely tiny jinbei for her new born daughter using some space-to-think fabric. It makes me so happy to see this fabric being so beautifully used. I can’t wait to see it being worn … more pictures to come!

Pattern Factory

The other day an exciting parcel arrived at my door – a copy of Pattern Factory (aka ‘Pattern Department‘ in Japan) by Ayako Terashima, published by Collins Design.

It’s a beautifully selected and put together book, showcasing patterns by contemporary artists and designers. I know Ayako has been working hard on this project for some time now. I’ve been waiting to see the results ever since she invited me to shoot the designer & director Mike Mills in his studio, for the book’s chapter on ‘Ideas, Process + Output’ back in February.

‘Pattern Factory is a colourful showcase of outstanding contemporary patterns by the worlds leading artists and designers, including Takeshi Murakami, Julian Opie, Keiichi Tanaami, Perks and Mini, So_Me, and many others. In addition to an archive of more than 150 vibrant and distinct patterns, this visually stunning volume includes exclusive interview pages – featuring Mike Mills, Eley Kishimoto, Lizzie Finn, Sousou and Fabrick/Medicom Toy – which unveil the artists’ working processes and sources of inspiration, along with photographs of their studios and factories.’

A refreshing collection of unexpected and unusual pattern designs; be ready for a lot of nice surprises in this book!

Salvia (‘Mori’ – detail)

Will Sweeny (‘Metal Storm’ – detail)

Peter Jensen (Illustration & Print design by Kathryn Dale – detail)

Lizzie Finn (featured in Chapter 2: Ideas, Process + Output)

Mike Mills (featured in Chapter 2: Ideas, Process + Output). Studio photography by Lucinda Newton-Dunn.

Fabrick’s screenprinting workshop (Kyoto)

Eley Kishimoto – A/W 2005

Plate by Lizzie Finn

Tenugui

I’m immersed in thoughts of Japan …all this talk about furoshiki, dreaming of friends in Tokyo while I sleep, and wishing I was there right now for a week of Tokyo summer with my husband on his business trip … I miss it. Still.

It’s been almost two years since we left and seems like a lifetime ago. I must get back there some time, before it just becomes a figment of my imagination!

While we were living in Tokyo I fell in love with tenugui – a short length of printed cotton 33cm x 90cm. The name ‘tenugui’ indicates ‘that for wiping hands’, however it was originally used as a towel when taking a bath, or for covering the head like a scarf. Similar to the versatile furoshiki, tenugui can be used in multiple ways – used to wipe your brow on a humid day, as a kitchen towel, for wrapping, given as a gift, tied as a bandana, used as a handkerchief, or even ripped up into bandages (the edges are left unfinished). Tenugui are still used in everyday life in Japan – on the heads or around the necks of workmen, or in festivals, given as thank you gifts or handed out as promotional pieces for businesses. The uses are endless.

The printed patterns on tenugui immediately seduced me and were the main inspiration behind my initial interest in printed textiles. I’ve always loved the everyday object, the random or not so random array of overlooked details that surround us. When Japans Edo Period (1603-1868) saw the development of popular culture, fine designs based on features of everyday life were created in abundance. Graphic designs depict useful objects, kitchen tools, animals, even grains of rice! Some are simply geometric patterns.

Recently new, more cost effective digital techniques are being used for printing tenugui, but the traditional form of printing tenugui still remains, requiring skilled workmanship. The traditional technique results in a design that beautifully carries through the fabric, so the design appears on both sides.

I collected many tenugui while I was living in Japan. I couldn’t resist them! And of course now is the season for tenugui; during the hot and humid days and summer festivals, you can find different designs in abundance!

Here I’d like to share a few Tenugui that I particularly like from my collection. Some I use regularly, some are kept unused.

Soon, to follow on, I’ll post some material from my experience on a course in Tokyo
printing some tenugui in the traditional way.

Furoshiki design

space-to-think was commissioned by Samsonite Japan to design a limited edition novelty ‘furoshiki’* (90 x 90 cm traditional wrapping cloth) to be presented alongside the launch of their new line of limited edition Cabin Size suitcases launched in May.

Using three colours on chirimen (traditional Japanese crepe cloth), we wanted the design to compliment and add a little burst of colour to the Cabin Size suitcase range (beige, apricot, brown) – something a little retro and fun, that would appeal to customers of a 30-60 year old age group.

As Samsonite is all about travel, it seemed obvious to me that the idea behind this furoshiki design would be ‘movement’. Keeping in mind the multi-purpose function of furoshiki, an important aspect of the design was to create something that worked as a beautiful pattern when folded, but when the furoshiki was spread out in full, the image worked in it’s entirety. By using repeated shapes and patterns rushing across the fabric, I wanted to create a sense of movement and direction in the imagery. In addition to that, the swallow being a true traveler – fast, agile and migratory – leant itself perfectly to the overall concept. See some sketches for the project here.

I was very excited to be invited to work on this project, especially as I have a passion for traditional Japanese textiles … and it was very enjoyable to have the opportunity to work with Kyoko, at Samsonite in Tokyo. I look forward to future creative collaborations!

* Furoshiki
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment promotes the use of furoshiki as an eco friendly, alternative way to wrap gifts and to carry things around. The name ‘furoshiki’ translates as ‘bath spread’ as it was once most used for wrapping people’s clothes at the Public Bath houses. They are also used for bundling up or gift-wrapping all sorts of things from lunch boxes or books, to watermelons and bottles of wine!