Dyed, woven and entwined with love

Oguma Motoko Senshoku Koubo is a workshop that specialises in dyed and woven fabrics. The dye style used is vegetable dye, and in particular a “rose dye” for which the raw material are roses grown in the craftsperson’s garden. According to flower or stem, or the season in which the materials were gathered, the colour of dye changes. Motoko Oguma entered the field of dyed and woven fabric in her twenties. After graduating from art school she joined the Gunjokogei Research Institute known for its association to the Gunjo-tsumugi technique of vegetable dyed silk. Here she received tuition from Rikizo Munehiro, a nationally recognised craftsperson. Following two years of living and studying at the research institute, she established her own business. From this point on, Oguma’s curiosity moved from fabric dye, to the fabric itself. For the vertical threads in her weave she uses thinly spun silk, while the horizontal threads are also silk. She completes her work using an inherited Takabata tall loom of the type used in the Oshima-tsumugi tradition. Also into her output Oguma incorporates the so-called kibiso and tamaito yarns, which are typically discarded in the process of making silk. In her hands these off-cut materials acquire a new beauty. “In this world nothing should be wasted” she says, and it is this spirit that imbues her work. It has a special sense and feeling towards its material.

oguma motoko sensyokukoubo
5-23-19, Shakujiidai, Nerima-ku, Tokyo, 177-0045
Tel:+81-3-3928-0795
Motoko Oguma
mm.drops@icloud.com