The Fancy Furoshiki Designer Hannah Waldron
Based in London, Hannah Waldron is a Swedish artist who is known for creating printed “furoshikis”, Japanese scarf used to wrap things. She has just designed a serie of tapestries created to decorate a wall just like “kakemonos”, Japanese fabric created to frame traditional Japanese prints and calligraphy.
Discover below exclusively the interview of the Swedish artist that Kitsuné has made!
Could you explain us exactly what a furoshiki is?
A furoshiki is a traditional Japanese square piece of multifunctional cloth that is usually decorated in some way ie printed, dyed, embroidered etc. Its most famous use now is to wrap and present gifts but you can tie and fold it to use it in a variety of different ways, for instance it can become a bag, which I believe was one of the original uses of the furoshiki- for carrying and keeping clothes dry in the public baths. Also it can be worn as a scarf, or for a carrying a baby, picnic blanket or decoration on the wall. It’s a great concept- giving different values to cloth so I hope people will take it up more.
Furoshiki design for Link Collective Japan, photo Martin Holtkamp
Venice furoshiki
Have you ever been to Japan?
Yes, I was very fortunate to visit last summer. I had a 2 week rail pass and travelled with the bullet trains from Tokyo up to through mountains to visit the Echigo–Tsumari Art Triennial, and saw good friends in Kyoto and Osaka, then sailed to the wonderful art island of Naoshima and Teshima and finally back to Tokyo to see another friend. It was a incredible whirlwind trip, and I’m still processing it now.
What inspire you for your creations?
It’s hard to say concisely as many things feed in to the work, but perhaps in essence the marks of humans on the world. Architecture, maps, textiles, language. We humans take a chaos and impose structures to no end of wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) possibilities. I take inspiration from that human drive to create out of raw materials something individual and complex. I particularly become fascinated by things that I am distanced from, either culturally or historically because there is a freshness that perhaps can speak more about humanity in general.
Editorial piece for Computer Arts
How would you describe your patterns style?
I see them as stories because there is normally a beginning, a middle and an end to the work. I generally end up with an image which involves a lot of textures and different forms that I have observed either on a journey or in a place I ave visited, the variety of mark making is what makes it fun and interesting to create.
Screen printed posters
Textile design for R. Newbold of Paul Smith
Do you also love to wear particolored prints on your clothes?
Yes! I have recently made some clothes using patterns I have designed which was really fun!
Tell us more about your map tapestries series, featured at the milan furniture fair.
They are 5 tapestries exploring the documentation of experience and place as well as ideas of nomadic furniture. The weavings explore visually my journeys either to or within the cities of Berlin, New York, Venice and around Japan. I was thinking about the accessibility of travelling now, and also the way we use photography so readily to document our lives, and these tapestries for me are a way of thinking about that, and about how I want to document the world I see.
What bands do you listen to when designing ?
Lately I have been really liking working to Steve Reich as the way he makes music is at once simple and complex. Pj Harvey’s Let England Shake features a lot, probably most when I am homesick and Erik Satie for calmer times. I also just made a playlist of songs featuring the moon which I find fun to work to for some reason.
What are you currently working on ?
I am designing a new furoshiki for The Link Collective and experimenting on a computer dobby loom with double cloth weaving and trying to get a bit more technical knowledge in that area.
Upcoming exciting projects ?
Larger tapestries!
Risograph print as an accompaniment to Rain Day
Limited edition print commissioned by the V&A museum