Artist Statement

I like making things with my hands, things that are familiar yet in some way new. Textiles in particular allow me to weave the old with the new by analyzing and experimenting with diverse materials, techniques and finishings. My choice of medium is probably also influenced by the fact that I grew up surrounded by fabric. My mother had taught dressmaking, and she made clothing for my sisters and me out of the bolts of fabric we always had around the house in Tokyo.

While my work is not limited to any particular theory or tradition, I have a continuing interest in expressing incongruous harmonies: a balance within an unbalanced space, an organic element arising from a synthetic structure, a silent ruin in raging seas. This leads me to experiment endlessly with materials and techniques.

The world of industrial design can often be impersonal. In my work as an independent designer, I try to create an intimacy and sensitivity, even while employing the materials of industry.

Bio

Hiroko Takeda received formal training in traditional Japanese weaving, dyeing and surface design such as kasuri (ikat), shibori, katazome, rozome and other forms of Japan's highly specialized historical textile techniques at the Joshibi University in Tokyo. For several years subsequent in Kyoto and Tokyo, she designed home furnishings and accessories at Kawashima Textile Co. Ltd.

Takeda left Japan to earn her MA in Woven Textiles from the Royal College of Art in London where, notable among other prizes and distinctions, she was awarded First Prize in the 2001 Jack Lenor Larsen Contemporary Fabric Competition from Colefax & Fowler Group in the UK.

Hiroko Takeda currently resides in New York City, where she is founder and principal designer of her own weaving and design studio.

Takeda's work has been exhibited in a wide variety of venues, from the multimedia installation she designed for the "Surface to Air" show at the Ise Foundation Gallery, to costumes she created for Yasuko Yokoshi's dance performance "Shuffle" at PS 122. She frequently collaborates with New York-based Sri Thread and with Habu Textiles. Takeda has spoken about her craft in "In Search of the Red Thread", a joint lecture at the 92nd Street Y with renowned fiber artist Sheila Hicks. Recent exhibitions include the Asian Art Fair, Cavin-Morris Gallery, San Francisco, 2007 to 2009.

Full CV (PDF)