Something born from the earth
Until recently, Utsushiki was hosting an exhibition by ceramic artist Shimizu Shiro .
This earthenware is made by piling clay on a base made of straw and then firing it in the kiln, over a long period of time.
The works, which give the impression of playing with earth, are somehow charming and refined, yet convey a personality that seems to be speaking to you.
The seeds fall into the soil, absorb moisture, grow roots, and eventually a sprout appears.
If you think about it, a lot of the materials used to make clothes come from plants.
It is nurtured by the addition of water, sun, and many other elements, but it is clear that this literally happens thanks to the foundation of soil.
Summer is in full swing as cumulonimbus clouds fill the sky.
The clothing timeline is already heading towards autumn.
COSMIC WONDER's autumn/winter collection features a wide variety of clothing designs, centered around beautiful mud dyeing.
Earth soil is dyed using the traditional mud dyeing method of Amami Oshima.
Wild rose soil is reminiscent of deep red, combining mud dye with a wheel plum called techi.
As the name of the plant suggests, when dyed using only the Sharinbai plum, the fabric produces a soft crimson plum color.
When combined with mud dyeing, it creates a stunningly captivating red.
Even those who are not normally interested in red will find it attractive and want to try wearing it.
Mud dyeing is a traditional craft of Amami Oshima. It is dyed with a dye made by boiling the techi tree (wheel plum) that grows indigenous to Amami, and mud from muddy fields. The mud is rich in iron from ancient strata of Amami Oshima dating back 1.5 million years. After dyeing with techi (wheel plum), the fabric is repeatedly dyed in the muddy fields, rinsed in the river to remove the mud, dyed with techi, dyed in the muddy fields, and rinsed in the river. Mud dyeing is a precious dyeing process that requires the blessings of nature, techniques cultivated over many years, and time.
The dye is made by hand repeatedly using dye made from the techi tree (wheel plum) that grows indigenously in Amami. The heat used to boil the dye is recycled using the techi tree after it has been boiled.
We naturally think of it as mud dyeing, but I think that dyeing by immersing it in mud is a bold and modern idea.
I had heard this story before, and when I found out what originally started it, I was shocked.
There is an anecdote that during the Edo period, people were required to pay Oshima Tsumugi silk, a specialty of Amami Oshima, as annual tax, so they hid it in a rice field to avoid it, and when they pulled it out later, it was dyed in a beautiful color.
When you understand the events and combinations that occur when something is created, your perspective on things deepens and you feel more attached to them.
Plants born from the earth are turned into threads with a lot of effort, woven into fabric, and then dyed in the mud to return to the earth.
By tracing the origins of the products, the objects become more vivid and shining. Currently, the storefront displays COSMIC WONDER's mud-dyed clothing and pottery made from clay collected by Shiro.
Some of the vessels were even made using soil collected from Utsushiki!
We hope you enjoy the completely different expressions that can be created from the same materials to brighten up your daily life.
A short-sleeved wrap dress that you can wear right away in the summer sunshine.
The diagonal sleeve lines create a beautiful silhouette.
This is a piece that will make you feel happy and want to go outside basking in the sunlight.
