Ritsuko Hirai

Tokyo-born designer Ritsuko Hirai was raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Bangkok, Thailand. Hirai gained knowledge and knowledge after going to the Rhode Island class of Design for printmaking and later gone back to earn the woman Masters in Fine Arts for Textiles. Making use of organic materials and simple structures, Hirai centers around combining previous and modern elements in her own styles. She's the textile designer for Kicokids while the textile/surface designer for Ports 1961 Bronze Label, both based in nyc.

Q: just how do you come to be both an artist and a textile fashion designer?
I began as a print-maker, devoted to lithography and woodblock prints. The surfaces we print in are both paper and fabric, but i needed having even more control so I began generating my own textiles to printing on.

Q: Which companies and designers do you realy usually make use of?
I make use of different manufacturers from all around the world. Some of them tend to be high-end clothing developers that demonstrate their particular work in New York Fashion Week, plus some tend to be sophisticated young ones brands which use a far more creative method. I actually do some editorial and advertising illustrations in the usa and Japan and currently i'm stepping into inside textile/surface designs.

Q: In addition, you take part in plenty of exhibitions. How do you balance your personal work and jobs requests?
I simply place my 100per cent into the things I have in front of me at present, if it is for a design task or my personal artwork. I think there’s constantly enough time for every thing.
Q: whenever you develop a print, where would you get the motivation from?
I have empowered because of the small things that surround my everyday life–like cats, used cooking area towels, funny mugs in the thrift stores, old pans and pots, a good cup tea, coach trips, Steiff pets, vacant museums, viewing child mantises hatching, making a dragonfly stick to the fingertip, farming and tasting fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and egg plants. I actually do always travel, almost and far. I like when I have always been becoming transported between places, but staying at the destination doesn't interest me-too a great deal. I like buses and trains over airplanes. Going for a walk is very nice too.

Q: would you follow any trends?
Maybe not. But I’m not sure–I probably do. I follow styles once I fancy anything. I-go to postage stamp programs and like beer. is not that a trend?

Q: what forms of strategies do you really utilize for your paintings?
We I did so far more oil paintings, but now We usually utilize watercolor and acrylic. I don't have a default method that i head to when making styles. I like the shocks I get from making use of a medium or a technique that I'm not knowledgeable about. Recently, I found it interesting how concentrated watercolors and watercolor pipe shows give these types of various tones and textures.

Q: just how will be your act as an artist complementary towards abilities applied to a finished product as a textile designer?
There’s an-end to a design work as soon as we deliver the look to the printer, or if the collection is shown, or an item gets displayed in the window. As an artist, there’s no end, nor restriction. Art shows me personally that everything can be done, that I'm able to keep working forever, and design tells me to concentrate and concentrate (and meet with the due date). I want both sides maintain me personally balanced, is introverted and extroverted, and reside in my personal fantasy but still be alive in the real-world.

Q: You seem to travel backwards and forwards lots from Asia to America, does your Japanese origins manipulate your projects?
I Happened To Be produced in Japan however was raised in Malaysia and Thailand, which constantly reminded me personally that I am Japanese and my work and speech will think about exactly how other people will see “Japan”. In Malaysia, at age seven, my teacher at a Japanese school taught my classmates and myself we tend to be little Japanese ambassadors representing the country, therefore we much better behave. I believe that stuck with me until now, and “being Japanese” plays a large element of me as an artist.