[Audio Guide]
[Audio Guide]
Fabric with a pattern of small flowers is covered with bizarrely shaped washi paper, which in some places overlaps or has other fabric laid on top of it, producing an intricate effect. The distinctive contours and black lines, neither straight nor curved, were randomly selected from among countless lines on clothing patterns found in dressmaking magazine supplements. A clothing pattern is made by conceiving a form that fits the three-dimensional human body and then breaking it down into a two-dimensional plane. Thus, while it appears abstract, it has a highly concrete and figurative character. In place of the repetitive development of single shapes that had been pursued by earlier artists, Okazaki attempted to create unique shapes through the use of patterns. This work, which is concerned with clothing, is a clear expression of Okazaki's orientation toward the so-called “minor arts,” applied arts that have traditionally been viewed as inferior to fine arts.
