PROJECTS

You-I, You-I

I came to realize how the traditional culture of Okinawa, my homeland, has been isolated from its origins by the political pressures exerted by the Japanese and American Military. I project this issue onto the pattern of Okinawa’s traditional Bingata Kimono. I redesigned a pattern, which follows traditional structures. There are representations of different seasons on the same space on a Bingata kimono. This multiple image gives us the sense of a unified timeline. Since Okinawa has a long history of occupation, its culture is a mix of its traditional culture and two foreign (Japan & USA) cultures. I believe that the aestheti of Bingata is a mirror of Okinawan history itself.