Embroideries by Yuri Miyazaki

Like Ripples.

Words / Jas Tse
Photography / Yuri Miyazaki
Translation / Iris Heung

⟨ 27 December 2018 ⟩

鬆的線，凌亂地跑，不拉緊的時候，線就那樣無顧忌地躺下。手縫的東西，多半帶著人的意志，逃脫不了刻意的痕跡，但第一次看到宮崎友里的刺繡，卻看到半帶失控那樣隨處墜落，像針葉落在路上毫無軌跡。她的繡線都穿在半透的紗布或絲綢上，背後動線都看得清，像是孩童時期，不愛用橡皮擦把鉛筆痕好好抹乾淨那樣，但這一次，卻是美好的著跡。

The loosely attached threads are running randomly on the cloth. Without the force of pulling, the threads all hang loose and lie flat lazily. Handmade items inevitably bear traces that always reflect the personality of the craftsman. It is difficult to avoid showing the intention of the maker, but this does not seem to apply for Yuri Miyazaki’s embroidery. She let the threads flowing randomly on the cloth without a pattern as if they were fallen needle leaves landing on the ground. She always uses translucent cotton or silk gauze which allows the back of the embroidery to be seen clearly. The patterns at the back, which are usually hidden, resemble traces of half-erased pencil marks, only except these are beautiful traces.

刺繡繪作家宮崎友里生於石川縣金澤市，修畢視覺設計系，始2014年自學刺繡，以前更愛作畫。「無論在下針前畫的草圖是怎樣，布料與紗線的材質厚薄隨時會掀起變化，成品每次都很獨立地不同，才很有意思。」

Born in Kanazawa of Ishikawa Prefecture, Miyazaki graduated from the department of visual arts and began learning embroidery on her own back in 2014. Before that, she had a greater passion for drawing. “Even if I try to make a sketch before punching in my needle, the actual result is never predictable as it would surely be affected by the texture of the fabric and the thread itself. I enjoy seeing the uniqueness from every piece of my work.”

愈看愈發感到，她的針步，那像河水中的鴨子，因移動而撥起漣漪，從鴨子身體四周劃著圓弧的一圈圈向外散，但回復平靜後它們看起來會有節奏地均勻起伏。又或是櫻花花瓣都掉到河裡去，一動不動隨著水流漫漫，微妙地互相牽連，形成了某種水的紋理。

The more I saw her works, the more I found the move of her needle was like a duck swimming in a river. The movement of its legs ripples the surface of the water. Once they stop moving, these small waves form rhythmic patterns. Her embroidery is also like petals of cherry blossom that land on the flowing river. They glide through the water in a subtly connected way that, again, form a pattern on the river surface.

無論紋理變化成哪樣，從看到她的刺繡時，自由的感覺，於我已成飛越到很遠的、在某處等待自己撿拾才因此延展開的路線。「刺繡畫是與宇宙的深刻交流。」這些那些，在某處等著的，大概是她說的：「為了滿足你尚未看到的東西，是某人的又或你自己。」於是不向後看，把注意力都集中，把針穿過去。

Her embroidery patterns are liberal without constraints. They brought me to somewhere afar that is full of possibilities awaiting for my exploration. “Embroidery is an intimate communication with the universe,” said Miyazaki. The unexplored possibilities are perhaps what she mentioned as “To satisfy what you have yet to see, something that belongs to yourself or someone else.” Having such determination, one can neglect what happens at the back, just stay focused and push the needle in.