Misako Nakahira | About my textile work and life in Melbourne

Misako Nakahira studied weaving in Kyoto and her skills include paper weaving, tapestry, ikat, felt, macrame and yarn spinning. She has used materials 'familiar to Japanese life' and white as a base for her work. She focuses on the physical structure of textiles, highlighting the textures and details created by the weaving process.

Nakahira has also pursued striped designs since reading The Devil's Cloth: a history of stripes and striped fabrics by Michel Pastoureau (1993). From this, her interest in the genealogy of striped patterns grew, and the realization of the pattern abiding public values also aroused her interest. Stripes are a pattern that compose of lines that are parallel and do not intersect. The stripes symbolize sin, festivities, cleanliness, chic, and rest. People have found meaning in their simple patterns for centuries. "In 2020, threatened by the existence of the invisible, our lifestyle has changed dramatically. Among them, the scene where people lined up at regular intervals reminded me of the stripe patterns. I am creating works based on the pattern of this new order, which is the stripes created by alternating people and space”, she has said in the past.

Misako Nakahira has also been awarded a Japanese grant and has been in Melbourne since October 2023. At the same time she was also selected as an artist in residence for the Australian Tapestry Workshop, where she spent three months in the workshop and produced two tapestries; she intends to talk about her involvement with the ATW weavers and life in Melbourne.

This event will be held both on-campus and online via Zoom (a link to the online stream will be sent to registered attendees).

The School of Art & Design Seminar series will continue weekly on Tuesdays from 1-2pm, between 13 February and 14 May 2024. 

To see information about upcoming speakers and to register to attend please follow this link https://rb.gy/v923bn

The School of Art & Design Seminar Series is co-convened by Dr Alex Burchmore, Alia Parker, and Elisa Crossing.