在風景中流動，熨燙記憶，從前累積的，不知不覺發酵出形狀。
每件apron dress都帶著某種溫柔，看來悠然又纖細。好像需要有顆安定的心，才能製作出能這樣展現自由的身影。在山色前，她也是個萬化的形狀，有種自然，是隨著身子一動，她便輕盈地轉。抱著好奇的目光，好奇她的輕盈來自哪邊。
To dance in the memory-scape, amid the fluidity of time and the transience of memories.
Each apron dress carries a tenderness so effortless and delicate, it can only be the creation of a calming presence: a shapeshifter, or a dancer in the air. You wonder where her lightness came from.
「布的位置上一點、下一點、左一點、右一點，都有連帶關係的。有點像是拼一塊直覺拼圖？」
Lea（齊熙筑）一直有蒐集古布的習慣，本來只是個人趣向，集到後來看著疊放在家裡的布，覺得只有自己欣賞也太可惜，便想找個方式使用，還能跟大家分享。
「我常會在古物市集尋找需要的物件，希望在買之前能摸摸看，有時很多細節透過照片無法看見。我會選擇有感覺的、跟自己有交流的布，比較偏好手工刺繡或homespun linen，當然有很多機器做出來的布也很珍貴，但手做的布更吸引我，也覺得她們特別有溫度。」
“The precise positioning of each fabric creates an interrelationship – like that of a jigsaw puzzle,”
Lea has a habit of collecting found fabrics. Loving them too much to let them gather dust, she thought of sharing her appreciation.
“I usually shop at flea markets; I prefer understanding an object through touch – in greater detail than online shopping would allow. I choose my fabrics based on intuition and interaction, favouring hand embroidery and homespun linen. Though, of course, many machine-made fabrics are equally precious. Still, I’m attracted to handmade fabrics – for their warmth,”
她看布的當下，腦袋就已蹦出她們各自合適的長相，能在芸芸裡發現美好，再放到合適的位置上讓人看到，是種才能喔。
「我想減少對古布非必要的破壞跟剪裁為出發，讓她們擔當主角。」在所有穿著品項裡，她只挑了apron dress並專心一意地製作。從選布、帶回家小心的清洗、仔細地修復、在腦海裡構思形態、縫製、手染、到最後縫上自己做的陶瓷鈕扣，一步步都親手完成。
In examining fabrics, Lea is already visualising the various manifestations they can take on. Indeed, having an eye for beauty and the skill to help others discover it is a talent.
“My starting point is minimum interference with the fabrics where possible. I want them to take centre stage,” Of all kinds of clothing, she committed to apron dress, owning the process from finding fabrics through to cleaning, mending, designing, sewing, dyeing, and handmaking ceramic buttons at home.
Ph. Ingmar Chen
因為喜愛而蒐集，也順著喜愛而流向。
「後來開始修補古布，是因為讀了《我在故宮修文物》這本書。我發現，當靜下心來理解、尊重、延長古物的生命，是多麼讓人享受啊！書看完後，我就發了電郵給在家附近賣antique與vintage textile的店（Sharktooth），跟她們說想去店後面的工作室上班，學習古布修補。」結果她果然愛上了。
「在開始前，會仔細研究布當初是如何製作的，以及後來一代代修補過的痕跡，再決定要怎樣動手。修復古布時，會感覺全世界都靜下來了，只剩下我的手、眼、針、線和手中的布。那個當下就像是跟著以前的maker攜手一起完成眼前這塊布。
過程中會了解到每匹古布都擁有神秘又與眾不同的經歷，所以更希望把每塊布的獨特都展現出來。很多從前的手工已經很難找到，經過時代洗刷，布本身就已經成為了one of a kind。我想修復她們讓人們繼續使用！」
She collects out of love – and flows from love.
“I began mending found fabrics after reading Masters in The Forbidden City. That was when I realised what a pleasure it was to calm down and to understand, respect and give antiques a second life. Upon finishing the book, I emailed a nearby antique and vintage textile shop (Sharktooth) and asked for a job opportunity in their studio. That was my introduction to mending fabrics,” And the beginning of a love affair.
“Before the mending process, I’d look out for how the fabric was made in the first place, and for all the traces of subsequent repairs. The world comes to a stop as soon as I begin work; all that remain are my hands, my eyes, the needle, the thread, and the fabric I am holding. It is as though I was collaborating with the original maker of the fabric,”
“Often, the process unravels a lesson in each fabric’s unique and mysterious history, propelling a desire to tell their stories right. As remnants of time, many of these fabrics are one of a kind in the sense that you can no longer find similar craft anywhere. I want to repair them so that people can continue to appreciate and use them,”
遇到狀況良好的布，一件作品大概會花2至3天的時間，也有些心思需要很多。
「目前最深刻的是Antique lace collector’s apron dress，那是初期的創作，用的是自己長期收集、想用來做自己的婚紗的布。我常常欣賞這些布，覺得它們好美，好想融入我的創作，於是便著手縫製。這件apron的所有construction都是手縫的，每塊布擺放的位置都很小心，所以足足花了好幾個禮拜的時間。」
那是很小心翼翼，載著作者真心，很珍惜地製作出來的作品，然而也像食器一樣，請放寬心地使用！讓它活起來也是珍惜。「我很希望擁有apron dress的人能常常穿，知道有些客人是真的當創作時的圍裙來穿，那讓我很開心！」
It takes two to three days to create an apron dress if the fabrics are in good condition. Sometimes, an ideation could take much longer.
“Personally, the most memorable apron dress I have made so far is the Antique Lace Collector’s Apron Dress. It’s one of my earliest works, using fabrics that I had been collecting for a long time – for my dream wedding gown. I love them; I’ve always wanted to incorporate their beauty in my work – which I did. This apron was entirely handmade, the positioning of each fabric the result of a thousand thoughts. It took me weeks,”
Made with extreme care, it embodies Lea’s sincerity. But it’s also meant to be used like tableware, to come alive, notwithstanding its seeming fragility. “I hope its owner wears it often. It makes me so happy seeing customers treat their apron dresses as actual aprons,”
聊作品時的熱情火火，在創作時忘掉時間忘了吃飯，窩在家中窗旁角落的工作桌前，反覆修改至滿意才罷休，彷彿把人只有一顆的心力使勁傾盡那般。「也真是常常是靠我的partner照顧跟提醒才能回到生活，真是辛苦他了，也特別感謝他！但能做出每件都是自己心愛滿意的作品，對我來說就是最過癮最開心的事情了！整個過程都讓我很快樂！」
於是休假時野游，跟伴侶帶家中貓狗攀山紮營，做陶也逛美術館，到農夫市集買時令香甜，也到古市集看舊物爬梳年月印記。踏實地生活，慢慢養出溫度。即使有些凌亂，又有些忘掉了，卻以一種形式記住了。
She speaks of her apron dresses with such passion. When she’s working, she forgets about time, or hunger. She sits at her desk by the window, pouring her heart and soul into perfecting each dress. “I owe it to my partner for looking after me and reminding me to live. It hasn’t been easy for her, so I’m grateful for her support. It makes me so happy to be able to create things that I love. Nothing brings me greater joy than the process!”
On her days off, Lea adventures with her partner and their cats and dogs. Together they go hiking or gallery-hopping, make pottery, shop for seasonal fruits from the farmers’ market, or “time travel” at the flea market. Grounded in living, in the warmth and the disorder of the present, some things are inevitably forgotten – but most live on in a kind of object permanence.
「對我最重要的是人事物的溫度，那個溫度，是指對事對物的用心、執著與情感的投入。」
隨著目光的落點一再重疊，找到自己的小徑徐徐伸展。
「畢展那年後，我很知道自己的想法是什麼，也發現自己在創作上挺固執的。我反覆問了自己很多問題，解決了很多製作上的疑難，跟創作中的自己反覆溝通。在Parsons School of Design最後一年，我發現自己很在乎材質，很在乎手工製作，喜歡用只有一種fiber的布或材料。並且期許自己，之後做的東西不需要多，但是要有意義，要夠精細，尊重材料以及背後每個maker。」
喜愛漸漸長成了重量，想要留下來好好保護，然後陪伴到很遠很遠。
「現在在我身邊陪伴我的，都是能彼此了解、能真心溝通的人與物。像我的家人、伴侶、我的布剪跟裁縫機，都是我很珍惜，希望能在身邊非常久的東西。」
“What’s most important to me is the warmth of people, of things. Warmth as in passion and commitment,”
Where her gaze falls, she forges her own path.
“After my graduation exhibition, I developed a very clear notion of what I wanted and realised: I could be quite stubborn when it came to the creative process. It’s a process of incessant self-questioning, problem-solving and internal chatter. In my final year at Parsons School of Design, I gradually became aware how much I cared about material and handicraft, and how I preferred fabrics made out of a single type of fibre. I made a promise to myself that what I did from there on out didn’t have to be much, but it had to be meaningful, refined, and respectful to the material as well as the maker of the fabric,”
Love gains substance and becomes a commitment to protect – and to go far, together.
“Now I’m surrounded by people and things that I wholly connect with: my family, my partner, my fabric scissors and sewing machine. They mean the world to me. I hope them stay with me for a very long time.”
Ph. Ingmar Chen
See Lea’s works here.
