Michiko Uehara, who is captivated by the texture of natural materials, is a widely renowned artist known for her "akezuba weave," a technique in which ultra-fine silk threads are carefully woven. While continuing to create her "akezuba weave"—woven into fabrics as thin as a dragonfly's wing—a certain feeling began to grow within her.

"As I pulled the thread from the cocoon, relying on the feel of my fingertips, I began to feel that silk is truly a blessing from the silkworm," Uehara says. As she personally searched for the thread outlets and pulled out each strand of raw silk, she began to wonder, "Perhaps I could weave this raw silk without twisting it, with the same fineness as it was released from the silkworm." Every day, she pulls the thread from the cocoon and dyes it with plant dyes. Continuing this lifestyle likely sharpened her sense of confronting the materials created by nature.

And whenever she works with plant dyes, which extract the bounty of nature, she marvels at the deep hues that are difficult to describe in words. "When I think about what to call the color of persimmon, it always connects to a scene in nature, like the color of rain-soaked bricks or the color of a sunset. My sense of color and aesthetics are all found in nature. I feel they are born from empathy with nature," she said. Just as a Ryukyu dance song likens thin clothing to dragonfly wings, people in the past likely associated beautiful things with the beauty of nature.

Uehara has often said that dyeing and weaving is "a job that requires a partner." "The question is how much I can empathize with and draw out the power of the thread. It's a kind of collaborative effort between people and nature." "I don't produce silkworms, nor do I produce the colors that become dyes. When I think about it that way, I believe my job is less about art and more about connecting with the power of materials—that is, the power of nature. It's all about creating something beautiful," she says in a gentle, courteous tone. Her Okinawan sensibilities, her Japanese philosophy of prioritizing texture over concept, and her exposure to modern art, classical music, and modern jazz throughout her life... "Everything passes through the filter of 'myself' and is expressed in my dyeing and weaving. I am like a kind of filter paper," she continues. Looking at this 3g stole, I sense her gaze, which slowly peels back the veil of beauty she finds by continuing to face the beauty inherent in nature, and her wisdom in transforming that beauty into something visible to all.

[Editor's Note]
When I visited Uehara's studio, I almost forgot for a moment that I was in Okinawa. It was a space where all sorts of countries, lands, and eras seemed to coexist. Surrounded by books, artwork, music, and family, there was a quiet, comfortable atmosphere. The atmosphere made me realize that the things that strike a chord with Uehara and that she cherishes in her daily life are what she considers beautiful.

Part 1: Akezubaori "Dyeing and weaving is a collaborative effort between man and nature" - Meeting Uehara Michiko in Okinawa. Return to [ENcounter vol.3].