The Textile Vision of Reiko Sudo

back to short view

Catalogue accompanying an eponymous exhibition presented on the 21st anniversary of the Nuno company and its driving force, designer Reiko Sudo. Innovative fabrics created between 1984 and 2005 are shown in chronological order.

Review

Published for an exhibition of the same title held at the Surrey Art Institute, this catalogue was supervised by the author Lesley Millar, who has staged several successful shows involving Japanese participants. Incidentally, 21/21 stands for the Nuno company’s 21st anniversary and for the current century. The publication contains five essays: 1) Nuno and traditional sense and skill in Japan, 2+3) The textiles of Reiko Sudo, 4) Reiko Sudo: maker of loveliness - and 5) Meditation on translation and seduction.
The catalogue section is in chronological order, and ranges from multi-layered weavings made from overtwisted yarn in 1984 up to pleated, transparent polyester tanabata fabrics produced in 2005. The illustrations - pin-sharp colour photographs - are all recent productions. This is a book for textile designers interested both in old craft techniques and high-tech processes, a mixture that have given the Nuno company and Reiko Sudo world-wide renown.
"Nuno's basic philosophy is that we want to make things that are useful and that people should be free to decide how they want to use the fabric. Nuno fabrics are artistic but they are not art." (Reiko Sudo)

back to short view