5 Things We Learned... Nami Sawada

Nami Sawada is an installation artist based in Tokoname. Her background is as a fashion designer and stylist, having attended the Hokkaido Dress Maker Academy for formal training. After 20 years of fashion styling, she decided to become an installation artist, “ sewing cotton strings became (sewing) stainless steel strings”. I met Nami while working at Tiffany and Co. and witnessed her create numerous ethereal and unique creations for several global stores, including Tiffany and Co. Landmark in Hong Kong. Her delicate constructions and attention to aesthetics have produced beautiful works of art that can be found across the globe.

Here are 5 Things We Learned about Nami.

What made you...you?

Playing tag in the corn field; my mother's embroidered abacus case; surrounding myself with lovely people; lugging a 18kg backpack around India; being silent during the art fabrication; the gender gap ranking of Japan: 111th in the world (complete shame)

When are you happiest?

When birds sing after a midnight installation while I’m walking back to the hotel; when I’m alone in the fabrication studio; when I’m having wine at the airport after a project

Would you rather have a muse or be a muse?

To be a muse in my old age?!

Who do you admire?

Craftsmen who can brush up their spirits even as they continue to work the same days and with the same routine

What is important?

Having a day of mindfulness