Interview with Ayuko Sakurai

Inspiration is everywhere, but I need to motivate myself.
I am more familiar with art and not sure if a “designer” is a title for me. Designs often need purposes and functions, but I wonder what my works fulfill.
(But I sometimes use this word to describe myself because it is such a common term to people who are not necessarily in the artworld.)

It is somewhere between(just like other important decisions)—yes I switched my major from English to Art, so people will say that I chose art.
But in fact, I simply could not handle the large amount of English homework, and looked for something that I could manage.
(I need to confess that I did not have a sense of what a college-level education meant in the U.S.
Plus, I learned that other courses gave us a similar amount of homework.
Later, I had to take this English class as an art student, and I passed it that time.)

Anything that needs my hands.
Regardless of media, sizes and styles, I am keen to see something being shaped through my hands.

Wow I am very timid now because I have never regarded myself as a legend; I am not there.
Well, people will give young adults different stories and advice, especially successful stories.
But if these stories and tips are suffocating them, they do not have to feel guilty about not listening to these stories.
This is a tough question. I did my best telling from my limited experience…

I do not have the answer, perhaps because I am neither of them yet.

Something should be within the design. If a design is empty and will not say anything to anyone, I wonder if it is good or even called a design.

A design can be interpreted differently, but when it is good, people will start interacting with it in their own ways.
Sometimes they immediately feel/know what good designs are to them, but sometimes they take time, energy, and perhaps money to gain this sense.

I do not know what to make until sketching.
And I do not recall that I made one for anyone. But I would be interested in making it for those who were dead and forgotten.

I will start with redesigning my senior project at college, a beaded dress fabricated with mixed media.
Adding another layer of interpretation will be a good start.

Sleep and time for being away from designing.

I usually inspire myself, but in order to do so, I need to absorb various information.
In my school days, I used to write about the outstanding works and ideas of Ferdinand Cheval, Salvador Dali, Francis Hutcheson and Robin George Collingwood.

I tend to like very intense designs or designs which imply dimensions and depth.

My attempts to make works from scraps as much as possible.
My attitude to art making, for example I would like to consider the last stage of a work(how to be repaired or returned to raw materials).

Study(not only art).
Ask myself why.
Pay attention to what caught my attention(both negative and positive).
Know it hurts to examine what scares or enrages me.

I am grateful that art prevents me from being too naive and setting something/someone on fire.

Something with a purpose.
And contours of something—both visible and invisible.
The process of turning abstract ideas into something visible.

My school, friends, and parents.

The environment which allowed me to learn and work hard.

I am still in the process of striking a balance among designing, working and investing for my future.

I believe that we cannot avoid online presentation nowadays.
The works and their data are a window to the artworld or potential audience(plus, we can easily bring the data with us to describe who we are).

I do not know, so watch me…

Let’s see if I can find one in the future.

Respectful personality, I guess.

Then more works, perhaps more pleasing works of art. (As you can see, I am not good at guessing what people expect from me.)

Art and/or design can reveal interesting aspects of us. This can possibly encourage or inspire someone, or teach something that we are not supposed to do.
Also, design can be the way to imagine any society(does not matter if it can come true). Imagination is an important part of human nature, and design allows us to interpret our reality through free imagination.

Currently I am working as a science communicator.
It thrills me to discover more and more connections among human intellectual activities(or human characteristics), such as how we represent ourselves in different media(sometimes seen in artworks) and how we update our knowledge(often through scientific methods and technology).

Both two dimensional and three dimensional works because making(or fixing) something gives me a pure joy and the sense or perspective similar to when I look down the scene from a height.

Media and materials need to be delivered through legal or ethical processes.
I do not want to feel guilty seeing or using them.

Artists have to stay sincere about what they think is meaningful, and have to be thoughtful about how art-making and the rest parts of life can balance each other.
I start to realize the huge responsibility for communicating with others(especially non-artists) through their works(even though it is painful and seems meaningless sometimes).

The audience needs to become aware of the potential danger of looking at something through only their lens.
I am sick of hearing “art(or any other field) does not make money” and “is art(or any other field) valuable to humanity?”
(I think that people especially in Japanese communities, are not trained enough to appreciate what are out of their comfort/familiar zone.)

History repeats itself. Revivals, new interpretations of existing designs along with exploration of uniqueness.

It all depends.
The only thing I can say is this process requires sketching.

Recalling my memories, researching, and sketching perhaps all at once.

None. I do not let a motto determine what and how I make.

Design comes first(if a “trend” means a style or fashion), but design often needs trends.

Tools. I need to make something based on what I have at this point, so sometimes they are limits and sometimes inspiration/stating points.

I often wonder how much one can “make it from scratches” because these scratches can be very intense leading him/her on unexpected journeys of researching and making.
I usually try to make something from scratches as much as possible, so you will see a variety of media and tools in my workspace.

Essential components.

I would rather communicate with people than simply answer questions from them.

Hurry. A sense of being behind(only in my scale, not by comparing me or my works to someone else).

Yes, it will be very productive with someone who can manage this business(and handle my personality).
However, I have been a single player, so I am not sure how it works(or it does not).

Perhaps people in books(could be real or fictional).

I do not have it. Do other people have their influencer books?

Schools and where I lived/studied(which means academic and cultural elements in an environment).
My work ethics and aesthetics(acquired through my childhood).

I am surprised that nobody pops in my mind.

I am not famous at all.
I am not even sure how and where to start my career as an artist.

It often takes a long time to pick one up because there are so many lovely options. Plus, my favorites keep changing…

At schools, art making was sometimes a painful learning process(also, learning itself can be painful and exciting at the same time).
Now, art making is almost a dream to me nowadays.
Then I realize how much it attracts me in different ways at different life stages.

Limitless imagination(often gives me soothing effects).
The sense or confidence(sometimes ends up as misunderstanding) that I control everything—the process, media, tools, and the possible appearance of a final product.
The shine that each step adds the workpiece.
…I can keep making a list like this, but the pure and strong feeling in any artist’s heart helps me move forward.

Not at all.
However, adults around me let me discover interesting objects and thoughts in this human society.
I believe that these experiences are necessary to cultivate curiosity, aesthetics, and other good human values.

I wonder if humans remain this physical shape(not through evolution but technology).
The causes of global issues will not change from current issues.
Money will gain an updated meaning or a new value.
If humans still exist, they will keep making so-called art.

I wish if I can say something cool in an interview like this.
Thank you to those who appreciate my works, and please watch me where I am going next!

I am trying to build my own studio at home.
After graduation from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2017, I found a job in the same area, but ended up returning to Japan (my home country) because of a visa expiration.
It had been 11 years since I left Japan at the age of 15, so I need a new setup with tools and knowledge I earned throughout years.

Materialized values or the ways to materialize certain values.
For example, the process of discovering designs of the world—how this world is built—is physics.
When a design reveals as an artwork, its artist has figured out the way to materialize something meaningful to him/her.

I cannot choose one from metal, fabric, wood, painting, etc.
They are all playful in their own unique ways, so I tend to do mixed media works.

When I line up images that caught my attention in a row, I often see multiple colors and patterns.
High contrasts and fine details make the space visually rich.

I have never worked for a company.
However, at my first internship at a city arts center, I made a paper model of the new building to which the center was moving.
It gave visitors ideas about what the new arts center would look like.

So far, my favorite material is metal—not only because it was my major, but also because it often gives me interesting ideas of designs.
Metal gives me possibilities to be different from other people.

When I jot down my ideas in my sketchbook or scrap paper.
Planning is probably the most fun part because there is no problem to fix yet.
It only needs imagination and ideas; I usually face problems as I work later.

The balance. It includes how my work will look on a body (if it is a wearable piece), and the relationship among different elements of a design such as shapes, colors and media.

I feel free since I often sketch by randomly recalling objects and/or scenes that I had seen before.
My hand just keeps moving while a design is constructed in my mind.
Sometimes I feel nothing and let my mind go wherever it wants.
However, anger and excitement are also very common in my memories; sadness either stops me from sketching or gives me a melancholic feeling, which still inspires me to draw.

I almost always have a combination of rushing and spending time to include details.
Which means, when I start to see the design coming out, I want to see the end because I already know it will not be the exact design pictured in my mind; however, I never know how it will turn out at the last minute.
At the same time, when the project is getting closer to its end, I start to feel that I can do more and usually end up with putting details (sometimes they are unnecessary).

Balance between how the design appears and my want to alter it.
If the piece is already visually pleasing, I should not touch it even though I want to decorate more.
I tend to overdecorate, so knowing this habit is the key to make something.

Good. I usually do not choose a design which looks bad in my sketches.
I believe in the good parts of the design and start the project; then I start to see bad parts as I proceed.

To believe in the power of a design.
With advanced technologies, people can express and share their feelings/opinions with others easily, and see objects/people/places without directly encountering them.
By seeing them, many of us know the world cannot be judged in black and white; there will be events that cannot be stopped no matter how much we try.
However, as well as other human intellectual activities such as science, an artwork can imply the good and/or honest aspects of us. I see values in them.

More varied and interactive with other fields(which do not have to be art-related).
Because of the variety of art fields we have today and will have tomorrow, people will combine multiple techniques and media more easily.
And this allows them to express their feelings/thoughts more freely.
In addition, people realize that many academic or technological fields can intertwine each other even though they are considered totally separate subjects.

Before the A’ Design Award ceremony in 2019, I displayed my works at the gallery at R.I.T. as a part of my thesis project.
I am happy to present my works whenever and wherever, but I am focusing on building my studio now.

The memories and feelings from my experiences often bring me ideas.
Sometimes the ideas come out at random moments such as during sleeping, washing or waiting for a train.
I cannot be creative in a deep depression, though (a little depression is still manageable).

I tend to put a lot of details and end up being busy.
Too much information and too many objects and people in this world.
I sometimes feel an urge to render all of what I have seen and imaged into one work.
And of course, it is impossible to include them all.
I usually need to stay simple and after I start to see the whole shape, I will think about details.

I left my home country, Japan when I was fifteen for high school.
After that, I had spent 11 years staying/visiting 11 countries and came back to Japan last year.
While being the only Japanese in the area or my school, I was very careful not to be influenced by any culture, especially Japanese culture.
It may be impossible to ignore it completely, but I try to appreciate different cultures as fair as possible.
I would like to discover favorite elements in whatever comes to me.

I have never worked with a company. I did not have a chance.

Personality. I am sure these designers whom companies select have reasonable quantity and quality.
When companies cannot select designers regarding their styles and media, personality will be something worthy of consideration.

I usually start from concepts and images, then modify works as I proceed, and decide if they are worthy having photos taken.
Also, I used to give my work a simple title like Work I, or did not even care about a title.
Even though I have specific images of what my works will be at the end, I have not found a meaning in putting the idea or concept into words (as a title).

I do not know yet.
I am in the process of buying new tools and making a studio, so everything looks important to me.

No single day is the same. Or all days are the same, but I feel differently everyday.

I am one of these young coming designers and do not know what to say.
However, at least I know some of my characteristics have taken me to where I am now—being hardworking and stubborn.

Positives and negatives depend on how I perceive the situation and which stage I am at.
And not only a designer, the majority of jobs and life stages have both a positive and negative—I remember how hard my life was at an elementary school.
So, I cannot tell the positive and negative parts at this point because I am still trying to find the meaning of being a designer.

I do not personally use the word “create.”
To me, creating means that something comes from nothing; and I do not think humans can do it.
Humans can make something from what already exist, such as media and designs. Perhaps what/who humans call deities and gods can create.
While making something, I sometimes wonder the meaning of this action; I believe this interpretation gives me a different perspective towards this world and human’s curiosity.

The ability/skill to handle a current situation.
This situation can include finance, work or study environment, and even which life stage and level of skills a designer has.
Of course this does not only apply to a designer, but I think designing can be easily changed depending on his/her position and situation.

A sketchbook, or scrap papers when I do not bring a sketchbook with me.
When I have an image or idea, I need to put it down before I forget it.
I often draw with texts to explain where/how I get the idea since a drawing can be interpreted in different ways and texts are confusing if these two exist solely.

Time is especially important when I have another job.
I do not complain when I have no time actually making something, because the stability of a full-time job means a lot to me (to make something as I want later).
I try to get my priorities straight and learn as much as I can for the next time I am ready to use that knowledge (and make something).
However, for the peace of my mind, I keep my sketchbook aside to jot down what I feel noteworthy in everyday life.

It depends on the size and how familiar I am with the media.
I tend to want to put more time in embellishing because by that, I start to see the end of a making process, plus decorating is a fun part.

At my work, people do not ask me a question relating to a design.
I left the U.S.A. where I studied art last year, and people I met recently in Japan do not know me as a designer.

I cannot pick one up because many of them gave me lessons.
In design fields, I did several internships at a town art gallery, schools, private jewelry shop and metalsmith studio.
Some of them taught me various techniques (which enriched my knowledge and skills) while some showed me life lessons which did not always mean pleasant experiences (for example, a skilled person in one field does not directly mean s/he has a good or at least moderate personality).

I do not have a specific group of clients.
But I plan to add more categories to my website when I decide to sell my works, such as “Young Adults,” “Purposes(Necklace, Ring…)” and “Year the objects are made.”

I like works with intense details or in clean, simple styles that will not confuse me.
In my own making process, I keep adding more elements, and I guess I am feeling as if I take control of something.
This feeling is one of the values in the making/designing process because it is rare to be able to control something completely—all possibilities of how the design will look are in my hands.

This is what I would like to know.
This world is full of unexpected events.
I do not even know what I will do tomorrow.

Myself. But again, I did not have a chance to work as a team.

My studio. I am currently working as a science communicator in Japan, and I have never expected that building my own workspace is this hard.

Through my website or they can directly email me. This is how A’ Design Award contacted me.

I think I am not as successful as other artists that this question targets.
Last year(yes I am writing this on December 31st of 2019, so I can still call it last year), I must have left the U.S.A and came back to Japan, which changed my life completely no matter what I want or think.
Then I face the questions like “What is your plan with art in your life?” “Don’t you give up an art making?”
So, I can say that I am still a young, coming artist who struggle a lot, but keep reminding myself of what I have earned in the world of art and design.