毛糸語•Wool Words
2021 • GalleryGallery, Kyoto
cotton, wool, monofilament, tulle
Like the human bodies that they’re made to protect, textiles break down over time. Like the encoded information they are created to communicate, textiles change appearance and meaning from culture to culture. Both textiles and language are human inventions, and are therefore transient. However, certain patterns, symbols, and stories persist and reoccur. “Wool Words” is a reflection on this cycle, as well as where the hand of the individual maker belongs within it.
The glyphs featured in the two central tapestries are based on historical examples of as-yet untranslatable pictographs and petroglyphs from around the world, but are original. The thinner, loosely embroidered scroll tapestries feature cursive English text. These are excerpts from the essay “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf, an early 20th century text which focuses on what is necessary in order for women to create art.
The title,「毛糸語」(Wool Words), is a based on a pun. In Japanese, the way my name is pronounced（ケイト）, and the pronunciation of the word for “wool yarn” （毛糸）happen to be the same. The title reflects both the act of writing with yarn and the act of inventing new glyphs.
“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”