Carry On 続ける

Wrapped letters from the clothing in my carry-on suitcase, sashiko thread

Alphabet of wrapped clothing: pencil & watercolor on paper

Carry on, definition: 1. continue an activity or task, to keep on, push on; 2. Carry-on (note hyphen) a bag or suitcase taken on an aircraft as handheld luggage.

Last minute scramble to pack for a dream trip to Japan: a ten-day textile tour visiting museums and artisans, followed by an artist residency in a former kimono shop. After an intense semester teaching, I had a day to pack to visit the country where I was born (my dad was in the Air Force and stationed in Tachikawa, near Tokyo). I brought my infant kimono and newborn passport, and packed one carry-on bag.

Textile Tour / Recommendations for Packing: Warm coat and/or rain jacket, comfortable clothing in layers (Merino wool tee, shirt or tunic, fleece or sweater layer, dress, tights, pants, leggings), PJs, underwear and socks, including warm socks, hat, gloves, comfortable walking shoes, toiletries and sundries. 

How to fit this in one carry-on suitcase and make space for art supplies? My friend Katie taught me rolling clothing allows more to fit in the suitcase so I employed her strategy, and brought along a few favorite clothes for the textile tour. No art supplies. I determined I would use what I found & learned along the way for the residency project. On arriving, I realized I read packing instructions for April travel to Japan; instead it was an unusually hot May— high humidity and temperatures in the 80s. Most of the clothes I brought were too heavy to wear. 

I decided to wrap each article I brought with me, and assemble them into words about clothing—words that reference emotional states (fitful, warped), states of being and acting (misfit, fabricate) and words that conjure something of the process of making and doing (pursuit, clothe). All the words reference dress. Their meanings shift (Misfit 1: something that fits badly, 2: a person who is poorly adapted to a situation or environment.) Dress (noun) as in costume, as in look, as in formal, Dress (adjective) as in bandage, Dress (verb) as in decorate, as in to costume, to clothe, to polish, to grow (to look after or assist the growth of by labor and care). We dress wounds.

Thinking about the clumsiness of language and communication, of displacement and tentative connection, of clothes as messaging, protection, self-expression, embedded language—of the multivalent meanings in words and in clothing. Of the many tee-shirts in Japan with sayings in English: Saturdays one pronounces, Ocean State, Providence, another! (I bought that one.) Thinking about the culture of wrapping, folding, stitching, repairing and dyeing in Japan—after seeing shibori dyeing in Arimatsu and Akie Ginza’s Sashiko Museum in Hinohara, sashiko and boro at the Kyoto flea market, furoshiki and the tradition of wrapping or tsutsumu throughout Japan. Wrapping is a way to impart generosity and respect to others. I purchased a garment with sashiko stitching from Akie Ginza, and she folded it reverently before placing it in a bag. When a fellow traveler asked to see it, I removed it to show it off when Akie Ginza came marching over and corrected my folding, while I humbly watched. Thinking about all the stuff we accumulate, meanwhile finding myself in that phase of life of shedding things, paring down, and reflecting on how practicing an unknown language places us in the generative space of doubt, of being okay with feeling lost.

With thanks to Hirofumi Matsuzaki at Arts Itoya, for making spaces for art to flourish, to Michelle Belgiorno and Erlend Cross— you created a serene home away from home, to Seungmi Cho for her kind generosity and patience giving this beginner a glimmer of understanding of Japanese culture and history, and my fellow adventurers on the illuminating textile tour. Thanks to Mrs. Miyazaki, the kindhearted owner of the kimono shop we worked in. On seeing my work she brought me remnants of kimono fabric to wrap. Thank you to the Roger Williams University Foundation to Promote Scholarship and Teaching, for their support of this project.

This work is in honor of my mother, Maureen Murphy Duffy, the most brave-hearted, glamorous and worldly wise-woman I have known.

Glossary:

Tenugui : traditional Japanese printed towel

Sashiko (sashiko means “little stabs”) traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing

Boro: Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched together

Shibori :Japanese manual resist dyeing technique used on textiles to creates patterns that spread unevenly across the fabric. 

Furoshiki: traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods

Tsutsumu: a term that literally means package, present, object, gift, and derives from verbs whose meaning is to envelop, to cover but also to hide, to keep secret.itional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing

Boro: Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched together

Shibori :Japanese manual resist dyeing technique used on textiles to creates patterns that spread unevenly across the fabric. 

Furoshiki: traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods

Tsutsumu: a term that literally means package, present, object, gift, and derives from verbs whose meaning is to envelop, to cover but also to hide, to keep secret.