She points out that each of these techniques involved local artisans developing intricate methods of working with nearby natural materials. “Ushikubi tsumugi [water-resistant cloth from the Ushikubi region] uses rare silk threads from double cocoons that are made together by two silkworms. It gives the textile a special type of sheen and durability, able to withstand a metal nail. Oshima Tsumugi's unique dying method uses the Amami Oshima's iron-rich natural mud as a dye.” She’s also collaborating with artists from Creativity Explored, a San Francisco gallery for artists with developmental disabilities, to design ten one-size, genderless outfits inspired by each artist’s background, interests, and style. These pieces will comment on themes including “freedom and limitations, chaos and harmony, and the unity found in nature.” These will be on display this winter as part of the Museum of Craft and Design’s Mode Brut collection. The upcoming clothing exhibition line, Kizuna, or ‘bonds of connection’ in Japanese, will challenge concepts and redefine what and who can be fashionable. It will explore how fashion intersects with gender, accessibility, and identity. “Collaborating with artists has always been [Tokyo Gamine’s] priority in all of our previous works and this is no different.” Just last year Uehara began working together with Japanese pottery artisans and started the Tokyo Gamine Gallery. This will showcase work crafted through traditional techniques and comment on our society’s consumption and how we value artifacts. Its goal is to foster a collaborative community of artists and advocates that broaden our collective vision on equity, sustainability, and quality of life. She’s also ventured into ready-to-wear clothing, unveiling two lines of capsule clothes in 2018 at San Francisco’s Dirty Habit restaurant and lounge. Haute Living interviewed Uehara there and praised her clothing’s ‘signature ripples.’ Asked about her favorite creative project, Uehara answered, “All of my current and past projects are meaningful to me. For us, it is not about the projects, but rather, the people and the community that come about from that experience—what we learn and how we grow from it.”
”...it is not about the projects, but rather, the people and the community that come about from that experience.”
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