What is reflected is that person's heart and history.

A Stroll Through the Kanagawa Gallery
File.11 UMI Yuigahama Beach
Shino Yamamoto (Galerie Watts)

This time, I'd like to take you to a gallery that I've always wanted to visit, but have been waiting for years.
This is a gallery in Kamakura called "Gallery Shōzan." Gallery Shōzan has two locations, YAMA and UMI, but this time we went to "UMI Shōzan Yuigahama." As the name suggests, after getting off at Kamakura Station, head towards the sea. It's a bit of a walk, but on a sunny day the scenery is very pleasant!

...Having said that, it was raining the day I visited, so I just hopped in a taxi.
It's located down a small side street, and a local taxi driver was surprised to find a gallery here. This is actually a corner of the studio of the Western-style painter Kan'emon Asai (1901-1983), and it was apparently a room reserved for the caretaker.

The lush green courtyard looked beautiful in the gentle rain. The building visible beyond the courtyard is the studio of Kan'emon Asai. The interior of the house, including the art supplies he collected, has been preserved as it was at the time, and it is occasionally open to the public.
Kan'emon Asai's works are also held in the collection of the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art. Many people have likely seen his works, such as roses painted with thickly applied oil paints and landscapes reminiscent of a circus.

*I had an endless conversation about handcrafts with embroidery artist Hitomi Usutani (right), whose work is currently on display.

"At Gallery Shozan, we showcase old tools related to clothing, food, and shelter, as well as works by contemporary artists," says owner Kyoko Watanabe (pictured left), a wonderful person with a unique aura. She comes from an art university with a background in design and is interested in the background of how things are created.
She loves fabrics, and seems to have become particularly engrossed in Central Asian textiles, especially those from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan; her collection is magnificent.
"I find it fascinating how fabrics reflect the unique textures of the region and the distinctive patterns and embroidery techniques of the local people."
Perhaps that's why there seem to be many exhibitions by textile artists here. When I visited, they were holding Hitomi Usutani's "Poetry and Embroidery Exhibition."

The main motif in Hitomi Usutani's embroidery is letters.
"When I saw the Hebrew Bible, all I could see were beautiful patterns, and I thought, 'I want to sew them!'"
Hitomi, who has always loved reading and also writes her own lyrics, says she feels even more exhilarated when she embroiders the lyrics of Patti Smith, known as the Queen of Punk and a poet, or Jack Kerouac, a novelist representative of the Beat Generation.

"When I'm feeling down, reading poetry feels like the words are comforting me, and it helps me. So, perhaps by writing each word stitch by stitch, I'm expressing something that exists somewhere in my heart."
Rather than being neat, distinct letters, the way they appear through Hitomi's eyes, almost like symbols, or perhaps a little randomly strung together, creates a sense of rhythm and a pleasant impression.

Embroidery in white alone is also captivating. In particular, a piece embroidered with silk thread depicting the roots of a large tree on linen fabric looked almost as if it were made of beads, adding to its beauty.

On the chair sits a work in progress. Beside it is a pincushion made of felt, shaped like a mouse. "This mouse has always been my companion."

"What suits me? What does it mean to live authentically?"
Hitomi tried various crafts such as glassblowing, weaving, and dyeing, but none of them lasted long. However, she realized that embroidery, which she had been doing since elementary school, was the one she had stuck with the longest, and that "this is what I'm meant to do."

Even the small art pieces, each meticulously stitched onto scraps of fabric, had their own distinct presence.
In fact, Hitomi had been visiting Gallery Shōzan with her mother, a textile dyer, since she was in junior high school.
Apparently, Watanabe told Hitomi, "Just make whatever you want to make."

"It might sell better if you give it a finished product. But don't overthink it; just keep sewing as you feel like it. That's how your own unique style comes through."

I've added Hitomi-san's embroidery, which reminds me of the Snow Queen, to this year's Christmas display.

EVAM EVA
The embroidered Sanskrit words are said to be related to the phrase "as things are."

Coincidentally, that might be my theme for next year.

(Interview conducted in December 2019)

Gallery Information
UMI Yuigahama Beach
4-3-14 Yuigahama, Kamakura City
TEL: 0467-55-5999
Gallery hours: 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (occasional irregular closures).
https://www.shouzan.org/

"access"
▶︎Approximately 15 minutes on foot from JR Kamakura Station