Reiko Sudo
Born 1953, Ibaraki Prefecture
Among the charms of fabrics produced by NUNO, of which Reiko Sudo is design director, is their abundance of imagination. During our first meeting to discuss this exhibition, Sudo’s sensors were on full alert, and she was fully engaged with the project immediately. She made many keen observations about Pokémon that caught her eye in the Pokédex. She noted the visual characteristics of various species and their unique moves and types, and succeeded in weaving together a variety of images for “Pokémon x Textiles.” The motif eventually decided upon was Pikachu, which Sudo had repeatedly seen and admired as “so kawaii [cute], really adorable.” While proposals for other Pokémon motifs were drawn up, from material and technique to exhibition plan, Sudo was motivated by the desire to convey the appeal of Pikachu through textiles: “After all, it’s so kawaii !” Incidentally, the word “motif” is etymologically derived from the Latin motivus (to move). Kawaii fever seems to have spread to everyone involved in the production and helped propel their motivation to maximize the quality of the work.* *For Pikachu’s Forest, a needle lace technique was used. The NUNO team turned their original drawings into two-dimensional forms using kiri-e (decorative paper cutting), which were then made into pixel art at the factory. The design was machine-stitched onto a sheet of fabric made of lime, which dissolved when rinsed, leaving only the delicate lace ribbon.
Photo by Masayuki Hayashi
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