“Nui Project welcomes about 25 participants, most of whom live on campus. They are assisted in their embroidery work by four staff coordinators. Staff member Sayaka Enomoto tells HAND/EYE that the coordinators ‘just watch the artists working (or playing) with threads on a piece of shirt or cloth in their own way. We don’t really teach them how to sew or how to stitch, but to those who can understand stitching techniques we sometimes give advice so that they have more options. The artists play with threads in many ways people don’t usually think of as stitching. Through observing these individual proclivities, the staff learns what materials would be best for them, and prepares projects exactly right for each person.’”
"Anyone who has visited a successful artist’s studio has seen the combination of space, light, organization, and attentive assistants that are a modern creator’s dream. Under the auspices of Nui Project, mentally disabled people work under exactly these circumstances. The fluid originality of what the embroiderers make abundantly justifies the investment in them. The gently warped shape of a heavily embroidered shirt is as avant-garde as anything seen in the high fashion world. The relentless repetition of stitches creates fields of deeply original texture and pattern. Patterns emerge that are somehow familiar and tangible, yet at the same time seem on the verge of disappearing.”
gummygunk
kianamaiart
