Together with a long academic involvement in Japanese language teaching methodology, Mary Taguchi has simultaneously had much involvement in the history and function of Japanese indigo-dyed cotton textiles. Inspired by the aesthetic of Japan, sturdy country clothing and the unusual narrow bolts of cotton cloth, Mary Taguchi combines traditional and contemporary design to produce beautiful, functional, elegant garments from her Mingei Australia studio.
Mingei, meaning ‘the arts of the ordinary man’, is a word made in the 1920s by collector and philosopher Soetsu Yanagi who recognised the extraordinary work of some unpretentious craftsmen living in rural villages, producing unsigned work of utilitarian rustic beauty. This acknowledgment of the unconscious arts of ordinary people has empowered this side of Mary’s work. Seeing the beauty of simple, everyday, utilitarian objects, whose forms were arrived at intuitively, led Mary to a collection of her own indigo-dyed cotton textiles that has inspired her work for years and will be showcased at her upcoming exhibition at Rathdowne Galleries & Joshua McClelland Print Room in Melbourne.
Rathdowne Galleries & Joshua McClelland Print Room
8 to 26 April, 2014
Melbourne
