Life is... Felt Applique on Felt

Introducing Junko Yamamoto and her feel for felt.

Last week I had the pleasure of checking out the Outsider Art Fair at the Puck Building. If you’ve never been – it is a real treat not to be missed. As I walked past the booth a Tokyo gallery, Yukiko Koide Presents, I was absolutely taken by the work of Junko Yamamoto, made entirely of felt appliqué on felt.

Yamamoto's work on display at the Yukiko Koide booth

Junko Yamamoto is autistic and grew up amidst all kinds of fabrics and materials, alongside her mother who worked at home doing sewing and handicrafts. The story goes that one day she began to piece felt shapes together, sewing these onto fabric backings and creating appliqués—and has been doing so for years now. She creates tactile images around her favorite themes of kitchen gadgets and fruits & vegetables.

Please bear with my poor photography below – I’m hoping you’ll still get the gist of this charming work.

Japanese Soup Spoons. Felt applique on felt

Grapes and Lotus Root. Felt applique on felt

If you are interested in this work, please contact the gallerist, Yukiko Koide by email. Her website is a work in progress, though you can see a few of the artists she represents.

Outsider art, broadly defined, includes folk art and work created by people neither trained in art, nor making their works to sell them, including work by the mentally ill. I have to say, it was the most moving and accessible work I’ve seen in a long while!