Rie Makino’s jewelry design is inspired by Japanese culture’s heritage.
Until 27th August, some pieces of her last collection Tsu Tsu Mu are part of the exhibition ABOUT VOLUMES in Venice.
The aim of this collection is to create works that can age naturally and express the traditional Japanese aesthetic, “wabi-sabi”.
The wabi-sabi is a philosophy centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.
Sometimes it is described as beauty that is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete like the research that the artist wants to lead.
Wabi-sabi is composed of two words that Rie Makino illustrates in this way: “wabi means the positive consciousness trying to find the feeling of fullness in austerity and privation. Sabi means the beauty that is felt naturally in profound implications and a rich sense of the hushed sound. Saby is the two-tiered beauty that has two elements, which interact each other to synthesize one world. Summing up the two words, wabi is the mind to find the beauty of sabi and wabi-sabi has the combined value.”
Rie Makino creates her jewels using the leather and dyeing it indigo. She selected this color and this specific technique for her work since they are deeply related to the traditional Japanese culture. The “Japanese-blue” color becomes altered as it ages and develops character, texture and details.
The aging of the jewelry reflects the use and interaction of the wearer, in keeping with “wabi-sabi” philosophy of the imperfects, hence making it more valuable.
Her creations have tactile qualities; they are also flexible and transformable in individual shapes. She uses the traditional Japanese method Furoshiki as wrapping cloth, used in ordinary Japanese life.
The technique used by Rie Makino encourages who wear her creations to change the shape of the jewel. In addition, the wearer is able to decide if a shape could be used as a brooch or a ring.