As I am preparing to leave for Tokyo this coming weekend, I am thinking about how Japanese quilts have changed since I started going to the Tokyo Quilt Festival. I see the influence of Modern Quilting and Modern Design in some of the most interesting Japanese quilts, and here is a detail of one of those quilts, set in a collage of fabrics currently in stock at eQuilter.
When I look at this masterful quilt by Yoshiyuki Ishizaki (“Kan Oh Chi Rai” – Prediction By Studying the Past) I see an abstract design that reminds me of the broad gestures we might make when drawing on a very large piece of paper.
Her gestures became shapes, and she filled those spaces with pieced segments that create a movement of light and depth through the use of an ombre progression of piecing. The eye flies back and forth on this quilt, drawn by the swooping gestures of the design, and the ombre movement from light to bright colors.
The best way to train your eye to see these movements of gestural shapes, and value changes (light to dark) is of course to go look at art in as many galleries and museums as possible. Even in paintings and textiles hundreds of years old, you can see how the artist or designer used these visual tricks to draw the eye through the piece.
The great challenge is to look at your own work with this objective eye, and apply what you have learned. When you are feeling too attached to the work you have done, take an afternoon off to view other art, and then come back with a fresh eye.
Yoshiyuki’s worked captured a lot of attention when shown at the Houston Quilt Festival, because it was created with a fresh eye. You can see other Japanese quilts from the Houston show, in this video. Enjoy!
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