3rd European textile and Fibre Art Festival - Catalogue

KAZUYO ONOYAMA
Japan / Japåna
Born 1951
1-10-4 Izuo Taisho-ku, Osaka
551-0031 Japan
Education
1974 Osaka University of Arts,
Japan
Selected exhibitions
2006 The International Fiber Art
exhibition, Cyan Museum of
Art, Korea
2003 ”Beyond Lace”, Musée Des
Beaux-Arts Et De La Dentelle
De Calais, France
1999 The invitational exhibition
of Chongju International
Craft Biennial ‘99, Chongju
Art Hall, Korea
1998 International Triennial of
Tapestry ¸ódê ‘98, Central
Museum of Textile, ¸ódê,
Poland
1995 Contemporary Direction in
Japanese Fiber Art, Kyoto
Municipal Shijo Gallery,
Japan
1989 International Textile
Competition ‘89-Kyoto
(2 nd ,3 rd ,4 th ), Japan
Awards
2006 Excellence Prize, 4 th
International Fiber Art
Biennial, Suzhou, China
2004 Bronze Prize, 3 rd
International Fibre Art
Biennial, Shanghai, China
2002 Honour Prize, From
Lausanne to Beijing 2002,
International Tapestry Art
Biennial, China
1997 2 nd Grand Prix Tenri
Biennial ‘97, Japan
1993 2 nd Grand Prix, ”In Our
Hands“ – an International
Competition
1988 Grand Prix, Takaoka Craft
Competition ‘88, Japan
When I was a child, my toys were handmade.
Leftover pieces of cloth that my mother or
grandmother had used were cut and sewn
into dolls’ dresses.
Leftover pieces of Japanese or colored paper
used to cover Shoji, or paper partitions,
commonly used in traditional Japanese
houses, were folded to make balloons,
boats, paper dolls, flowers and so forth.
The Japanese paper Washi was used not
only for dwellings, which is well-adapted to
the Japanese climate, but also for furniture,
children’s toys and playthings, household
furnishings and items of formal social
exchange.
Its meaning and use vary with various ways
of folding, and this tradition of folding
paper has been handed down through the
generations, becoming today the Origami
that is known throughout the world.
The crane shape is the most typical representative
of Origami. The crane has long
been esteemed in Japan, Korea and China
as a bird of great longevity, symbolizing
peace. Even today, we believe in the tradition
of Senbazuru or the thousand paper
cranes, and we fold one thousand of
Origami symbols of longevity to pray for
recovery from illness.
I find an abstract beauty in this tradition of
Origami, which shows a richness of spirit.
How are we to bring expression and function
today to its depth and abundance, hidden
within the folds of their simplified
shapes?...
I have folded thin cloth pieces layer upon
layer in the spirit of folding one thousand
cranes, praying for happiness, peace, abundance
and good health, and expressed the
relationship between life and environment
with the vivid beauty of the unblemished
yellow.
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