COSMIC WONDER Official Site
NEWS
Naoto Ishii
Sumiko Ishii
a place where the truth meets an illusion
a sublime scenery defined
in an unbroken line of time
Sumiko Ishii
−
Naoto Ishii
Deepened his interest in soil while in university. Engaged in agriculture in the Chugoku Mountains, and participated in establishing kilns after graduation.
Trained at Iga and practiced at Kameoka, he established his noborigama kiln in Kyotamba, Kyoto.
He calls the starting place of his creation was digging Sueki and Haji potteries (ancient earthnwares) in his childhood.
Tamba cup, Yakishime hako, Kohiki ozara, Yohen bottles, Shizenyu-tsubo
Sumiko Ishii
After studying Classics, with an occasion of writing paper about the lives on Manyo-bito, she engaged in architectural and interior design.
Living in kominka (Japanese style old house) in Kyotamba, Kyoto, she started her own handiwork creation in daily necessities of everyday life.
Karamushi apron, Sashiko bedclothes, Negoro coaster, Copper pot, Urushi plate
−
Exhibition period:
September 17 − October 2, 2016
Artists will be in attendance on September 17 and 18.
As a celebration for the opening of the exhibition, Sumiko Ishii will held “Yakuso-chaya (wild plants teahouse)” on Saturday September 17 from 3pm to 6pm.
Tea carefully prepared from Kyotamba grown organic ingredients, such as sudachi citrus, red perilla, black beans, holy basils, will be served with seasonal fruit-higashi.
Place:
5-18-10 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open 11am – 7pm | Closed on Wednesdays
T. +81 (0)3 5774 6866
*Temporary closed: September 12 − 16
Facebook
Twitter
Special exhibition
COSMIC WONDER with Kogei Punks Sha
Omizue: Iwamino-kamito-mizu
Date:
August 24 − September 19, 2016
Opening Hours 10:00 − 18:30 (Entrance into exhibition rooms is until 18:00)
Closed on Tuesdays
Place:
Iwami Art Museum Exhibition room C, Shimane Arts Center “Grandtoit”
−
The connection between universe and man has mirrored one another since their primary origins.
Gently scooping out the impressions that spring forth from Iwami and the San’indo extending beside it, lying close to their original stature, reflecting them between the boulders of the ocean as if unraveling legends of ancient times.
Building a small Omizuedo (setting for the Omizue ceremony) within a cove of Iwami’s Kohama coast, ceremoniously making ‘water’ in the sea of the tutelary deity.
A water bottle and water bowl made from Iwami’s soil, a Tamano-hako (box) crafted using the wood and obsidian of the Oki Islands, various tools of the Omizue formed from the nature bestowed from the mountain, ocean, and river.
Kamikoromo are worn, made from washi paper crafted by the traditional skills of a papermaker from the Sekishu region.
Adhering to the land of Iwami that resonates with the echoes of voices from long past, that which exists within the universe is connected as a whole, with an eternal ‘now’ at its core.
COSMIC WONDER with Kogei Punks Sha’s “Omizue” –a view of the universe that gazes upon the primitive and the ancient, the path followed by Kami as nature’s incarnation, and that of man.
* “Omizue” –A ceremony for drinking spring water
COSMIC WONDER with Kogei Punks Sha
−
This special exhibition is held in correspondence to a workshop that contemplates themes of the ‘use of local resources’ and ‘the relationship between regions and fashion’ through appropriating Sekishu-Washi, a type of Japanese handcrafted paper that has been traditionally inherited within the Western Shimane Prefecture. “Kogei Punks Sha” is an artistic unit comprising of contemporary artist and founder of COSMIC WONDER, Yukinori Maeda, and Kogei (loosely translates to “artisan crafts”) designer, Sumiko Ishii. On this occasion, Kogei Punks Sha will present works created and inspired by the natural features and materials of Iwami and Shimane, in addition to introducing aspects of their “Omizue” performance that engages with such elements, in the form of an installation. COSMIC WONDER’s new garments created with Sekishu-Washi will simultaneously be on exhibit.
−
Photography: Yurie Nagashima
Title logo: Naoto Ishii
COSMIC WONDER
Light Years
COSMIC WONDER
Light Years
The collection is composed of exploration of various natural materials, combining handmade green washi-paper from native kozo tree, hand-woven fabrics like Karamushi, kudzu, natural farming organic cotton, organic linen and herbal dyed pure wool. The process of infusing handicrafts with traditional Japanese techniques is a way of finding beauty in the continuity.
The feature and past give us their gentle light.
−
To mark the release of this new collection, the reception will be held at the Center for COSMIC WONDER.
Classical and original sweet Sumikoromono-okoshi will be served during the reception.
Yukinori Maeda, contemporary artist and founder of COSMIC WONDER, will be attending at the reception.
Ceramics by artist Shigeo Tanaka from Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture, will also be released.
Date:
August 6, Saturday, from 12:00 to 17:00
Place:
5-18-10 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open 11am − 7pm
We are temporary closed from Monday, August 1 to Friday, August 5.
Japanese Obon holiday: Monday, 15th August
Masaru Kawai
Chairs
When looking at the chairs made in the Jomon period, I feel they are created by a natural act of human similar to the acts such as eating and sleeping.
I hope this workshop will be an opportunity to look at something that has been lost in the industrialization of modern life.
Masaru Kawai
−
Exhibition period:
July 23 – July 31, 2016
Place:
5-18-10 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open 11am – 7pm | Closed on Wednesdays
T. +81 (0)3 5774 6866
−
Workshop “Hinoki and igusa chair”
Each participant makes a chair using hinoki wood and igusa grass.
Date:
Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24, 11am – 6pm
Place:
Center for COSMIC WONDER
Fee:
19,000 yen per person / per group (＋1,000 yen per person as the insurance fee)
Number of seats:
4 groups per day (Reached the fixed number. )
*individuals or groups with a few members participates acceptable
Apply in e-mail. Send your name, telephone number to the following address.
press@cosmicwonder.com
COSMIC WONDER
Ryukyu indigo
COSMIC WONDER’s Ryukyu indigo is a true collaboration of nature and handcraft.
The deep oceanic blue is born only through the care of hands and the passage of time.
Each piece has its own expression.
Period:
Friday, June 24 – Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Place:
5-18-10 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open 11am – 7pm | Closed on Wednesdays
T. +81 (0)3 5774 6866
Natural indigo is an ancient dye and one of the oldest dyeing methods in the world. Ryukyu indigo is a natural indigo dye from Okinawa island in Japan. It is made from the aqueous precipitate of the leaves of mercury, an acanthaceous herbaceous perennial harvested in summer and winter.The dye liquid is produced through fermentation process. This traditional process has a long history in the northern part of Okinawa. However, many of the farms that made Ryukyu indigo dye have disappeared. Seisho Inoha, a native of Okinawa, is now the sole authorized preserver of this technique in the country.
The deep oceanic blue is brought out by the application of twenty to thirty layers of due by a skilled dyer. We hope that you’ll enjoy the color that lives and grows with you.
Trees and People
In Japan’s mountains there had once been people known as Soma. Soma are those who make a living by entering the mountains and cutting down trees, and further transporting the timber. Unlike our current day that has seen the progression of mechanization, such work that dealt with confronting the harshness of nature and engaging with enormous trees purely by means of human strength, wisdom, and horsepower had once been extremely dangerous. These however, are things that are now difficult for us even to imagine. For such work of the Soma, there is an essential tool called a ‘…[Read more]