In the Studio: Yuri Kinoshita

What’s your daily routine?
I wake up and immediately walk. Around my neighborhood, there’s a lot of nature. Big trees. I like the wind, the breeze. Then I eat breakfast, write a little in my diary or do some sketching. After that, I drink coffee while I draw, and then I head to my studio in downtown Seattle around 8 a.m. I like my studio very much. I go every day, even Saturday and Sunday. I just go back home to eat and sleep.

How did you set up your space?
My studio is on the basement floor of the building. There is no light from the outside, which is perfect for creating light. When I work, I use fluorescent light. The workbench is in the back corner, and the assembly area is in the front. The area immediately after you enter is where the finished work is placed. Materials are located under the desk and in the corner between the entrance and the larger space in the back. Sometimes coffee drips from the coffee shop above, so basically all my materials and artwork are covered with clear plastic.

This interview appears in Issue 33 of Alta Journal.
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Kinoshita’s downtown Seattle studio space is located in a basement below a café. She keeps her work covered in plastic, as coffee occasionally drips into her workspace.

What materials do you use?
I use various natural materials, like kozo paper, linen fiber, bamboo fiber, and string. I work with a papermaker in Japan because I prefer a special thickness. Sometimes I buy from a manufacturer in California called Hiromi Paper. But I also make paper, adding pine needles from north of Seattle and illumination powder into the mixture. I call my paper Nebula; when illuminated, it casts a light like fireflies. In my art practice, I also use textiles, including old kimonos. My family used to make wholesale kimonos, so I could easily get materials. Now I get them from my longtime friends who stock vintage kimonos.

How do you like to work?
I listen to music. I like bossa nova and jazz. And YouTube as radio—I listen to comedians.

Where do you find inspiration?
I like to go to shrines when I go back to Japan. And then, of course, nature. I don’t do anything in particular, but when I see Mount Rainier or when I see the sunrise, I am filled with some sense of gratitude and shout, “Thank you!”•