Hiroko Takahashi

• Textiles
• 1944 -

Additional to the beautiful designs and colors, Japanese embroidery is an art where more than 40 basic sewing techniques are accurately instructed from master to disciple from generation to generation. In 1998, I was certified as master for Japanese embroidery. I graduated from art university the following year and have been trying more beautiful ways of embroidery, when I finally came up with a technique using extra fine twisted thread. For example, with this technique, I can not only express the colors of a bird's feather, but I can express the feather as it is. People won't see threads, but a real feather. I was able to express living creatures with reality with the natural sheen of the silk thread and the Japanese embroidery technique using both hands. Also, by using the extra fine twisted thread, the shadows that would appear when using a thick twisted thread would not appear, and it can also be used like metal. In the beginning of my career, when I didn't know computer graphics, I drew precise designs of complicated geometric patterns with a ruler and my own calculations and formed what I wanted to express. With the traditional embroideries and my own skills and techniques that I've built up through the years, I can express anything, and that always comes out beautifully.

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