Collaboratively exploring knot traditions can be a creative way to build connections among communities and to explore the common threads that bind us. By re-interpreting Celtic Knots forms through the lens of modern technology tools and traditional Japanese knot cording, Unraveling the Knot seeks to explore the bonds, and colliding and merging stories that we form as cultures connect.
This art journey re-interprets Celtic and Japanese knots through a range of mediums such as 3D printing and mizuhiki Japanese knot cording. A knot that is easily recognizable in a two dimensional drawing may look very different from different angles in three dimensional space, or when created from different cultural materials. Unraveling the Knot will invite visitors and participants to examine knots from different angles and to reflect on their own personal cultural stories rooted in knot traditions. An ability to look at communities and cultures from different perspectives is very needed in today’s global political climate in which there is a tendency portray groups from only one angle.
This art journey re-interprets Celtic and Japanese knots through a range of mediums such as 3D printing and mizuhiki Japanese knot cording. A knot that is easily recognizable in a two dimensional drawing may look very different from different angles in three dimensional space, or when created from different cultural materials. Unraveling the Knot will invite visitors and participants to examine knots from different angles and to reflect on their own personal cultural stories rooted in knot traditions. An ability to look at communities and cultures from different perspectives is very needed in today’s global political climate in which there is a tendency portray groups from only one angle.
I am excited to visit Dublin as I am part Irish on my mom's side. My great, great grandmother came to the United States through the port of New Orleans as a child lace maker. Her family settled in Tennessee. On my father's side, I am Japanese from Hawaii. I have always been fascinated by the knot traditions on both sides of my family; women in my mother’s family created delicate lace knot tatting to edge garments, and on my father’s side, seaweed was knotted in a special way to put into soups and mizuhiki cords were knotted artfully for holiday decorations. I believe an art exploration of knotting is a way to explore our cultural stories from different perspectives.
This project is a collaboration between the Alum Rock Educational Foundation and Okada Design. It is generously funded by a grant from the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, with additional support from the Chester Beatty Library and Octave Systems.
This project is a collaboration between the Alum Rock Educational Foundation and Okada Design. It is generously funded by a grant from the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, with additional support from the Chester Beatty Library and Octave Systems.