GLOBAL YOUNG TALENT 2021: MONA MATSUI | REFLECTING NARRATIVES INTO TEXTILES

Mona Matsui is studying at Royal College of Art, MA-Textiles Printed Textiles. Her aim is to cooperate the flowing movements, that nature or everyday events produce, with her textiles in order to promote well-being in urban society. She is reflecting narratives that she has experienced or seen, into textiles. As recently seen in the April issue of the Harper’s Bazaar we talked about mystery hidden behind textiles.

What is the main message you would like to spread throughout your textile designs?

I think textile is such an interesting and mysterious living thing. I feel that they are female creatures. I believe women has adaptable character similar to textile. In my opinion women are really good at finding something fun and/or beautiful in daily life. I have learned this from my mother, older sister and friends. So, what I would like to spread is that there are lot of beautiful things around you which I depict while creating textile design! My main aim is to create adaptable textile design for spaces because I would like to create beautiful experience in a space for well-being. I try to bring sensuality to the monotonous structure of our environment most of all because textiles make gravity and air visible, light apparent, they are a solution to make a fundamental connection between architecture, people and space. This eases people's mind and gives the impression of calm, familiar and feminine to buildings or products. Textile can easily achieved this. Textile’s material is soft, architecture’s material is hard. I found that this is like a relationship between men and women. To create well-being space, we need both strong building and the soft and sensual atmosphere. I feel that as a woman textile designer, textile design can achieve this because they create beautiful events through reflecting phenomenon and supporting hard material-masculinity. Phenomenon and textiles both cannot be completely controlled and that is what I love, they are so fascinating, like women that I have met and learned so much from them.

What made you decide to become a textile designer in the first place and what is your biggest inspiration as an artist?

I only realised the real meaning of being a designer is that the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake in March 2011, which caused serious damage to part of Japan. I visited the devastated area with some artworks as gifts. The temporary houses were very cold and rigid impression. I felt less-emotional from not only the atmosphere but also the houses itself. While being there, someone said to me, ‘We don’t need artwork. We need people to connect with us'. These words had a strong impact on me. After that, I knew the houses called ‘Minna no Ie’ -Home for all- in Rikuzentakata city, which is built by Toyo Ito, the house was built in order to create a connection between people being the victim of the earthquake. It works as a community centre. The house is very calm, kind and homey rather than a community centre, and I saw people were laughing and chatting there. I was really fascinated with this and realised that to create beautiful and calm place means to ease up people’s mind. I thought this is the power of design. Since then, I have been interested in space and architecture. In addition, my father, grand father and great grand father were also working as an architect, so it may have been also affected my thoughts. Thus, I decided to be a textile designer because it is the only way that I can involve in architectural field. My biggest inspiration is the way of Japanese perception of the relationship with nature, and the things that I have found and felt in my life. Japanese spatial concept is made to integrate with the perception: the beauty of ephemeral nature. This tendency pushes out toward nature allows a deeper communication with the environment, a more lingering appreciation of the beauty.

“ I felt less-emotional from not only the atmosphere but also the houses itself. While being there, someone said to me, ‘We don’t need artwork. We need people to connect with us'.”

How would you describe your design’s identity?

My design’s identity is established by my background. As a Japanese textile designer, I would like to express my design through investigating ‘Iki’ that is Japanese authentic sense. ‘Iki’ usually means stylish and chic. However, according to Syuzo Kuki, who is a Japanese philosopher, ‘Iki’ is mainly composited by three words; the first one is ‘sensuality’ that has been developed in Edo era, and often seen as a technique in Ukiyoe, the second is ‘a sense of tension' that comes from Bushido- and Wabi Sabi culture in Muromachi era. The final one is ‘ephemeralness’ that is related to Buddhism and Zen concept. ‘Iki’ also means neat, frank, plain and charming. This can lead to the concept of simplicity and minimalism. I will take the concept, and introduce it into the space with my textiles. My textile design is to cooperate the flowing movements, that nature or everyday events produce, with my textiles in order to promote well-being in urban society. I will translate narratives that I have experienced or seen in nature or daily life, into textiles. This is like adding emotion to the textile. This eases people's mind and gives the impression of calm, familiar and feminine to buildings or products. This related to the my main message as well.

“My design’s identity is established by my background. As a Japanese textile designer, I would like to express my design through investigating ‘Iki’ that is Japanese authentic sense.”

You found the relationship between circle, pattern design and nature, does it lead you while designing?

Yes, absolutely. In my pattern designs, I mainly focus on using circles because it has a deep relationship with my identity. It represents harmonious, freedom and life cycle itself. I have found the relationship between circle, pattern design and nature; every event is repeating. The pattern design which is made with circles brings us the impression of the form of orderly, and it is emphasized aesthetic effects of surface design; this will cooperate with the structure of architecture. And the curvy shapes is reminds me of the beauty of women’s body as well. Charming, smooth and softy women’s body is really beautiful. As a woman, I would like to express this and try to cooperate with hard materials: architecture. I will expand this idea to geometric pattern designs that is adaptable for contemporary architecture field. I want to try different types of textile technique to express it.

How would you like to be pictured in your target minds?

At the moment I see myself in the contemporary interior textile industry and architecture fields. I have found that my work has a strong focus towards universal design and simplicity. My eventual achievement is to create a beautiful experience of the space itself and I want to cooperate with the people who have the same shared value. By creating adaptable textiles, I see the textiles that I create as a solution to the issue; less-emotional space. I am aiming that through the development of my textiles that is versatility would allow for the elements of architecture, and I create textiles that is used for functional products in that field. In addition, I would like to think how I can contribute to boost the Japanese Textile industry. They are so fascinated and distinctive, though, now it is little bit in danger, as same as other craft fields. Also, it is important to think the speed and money-driven development strategies of today, in order to achieve creating beautiful space with architects because textiles is one of the easiest solution for this without new complicated construction systems. By exploring the properties and potential of textile design to challenge the notion of functionality, I hope that how these traditionally decorative materials can be manipulated and broken the image of textile design to become a functional aesthetic within the design field. Through casting textiles, I would like to provide an experience of the space itself, suggesting a fresh sensation, imbued with memory and experience that I've ever seen.

“At the moment I see myself in the contemporary interior textile industry and architecture fields. I have found that my work has a strong focus towards universal design and simplicity.”

Discover Mona Matsui's full collection

Words by Katarzyna Korcz