Interviewing Suzume Uchida

Suzume Uchida, a Tokyo based painter, known for her unique, emotive paintings and drawings. Fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto discovered her and eagerly collaborated with her for his main line. Suzume's drawings and paintings became prints on upper wear from Yohji Yamamoto Pour Homme.

Our editors, Teo Josserand & Yann, interviewed Suzume and documented their Yohji Yamamoto x Suzume Uchida garments. Read the interview below to discover this promising artist. In the interview, Suzume shared her inspirations and the emotions that fueled her work. She spoke of the power of art to evoke a myriad of feelings, even in the darkest of times. Her words paint a vivid picture of her artistic journey.

INTERVIEW

To start with, who is Suzume Uchida?

Suzume: I am an artist. I do painting and drawing.
What my works have in common is the feeling of rawness that comes from the original experience rather than negative emotions. I express this rawness in a realistic way by drawing a down-to-earth approach.
I started collaborating with Yohji Yamamoto beginning with the Yohji Yamamoto POUR HOMME 2018 spring/summer collection. Since then, we have continued to work on different initiatives every year.

The exhibition in Japan is named after the title “Day to Day is Light”, is there a distinctive meaning that you wanted to share with us through this title?

Suzume: I wanted to convey the idea of the fact that we actually don’t want to miss the important events shining through everyday life, which we take for granted. I think that when you are busy, you tend to lose sight concerning more important things. Lately, I also feel that days are passing at the speed of light.

Your artworks are heavily inspired by your past personal experiences, such as your anorexia, for example. Has the light finally come out after the darkness in your life?

Suzume: Finding the light is my mission. By preserving that light through my paintings, I hope to help someone else. I’m painting from my own personal experience, because I do believe that experiences from reality are what makes people move.

While the brush is in your hand and you're painting canvases, what kind of emotions run through your body and mind?

Suzume: I always feel like I’m facing painting as if my life depended on it. It is actually difficult to reproduce the exact views that you want to see. Are you lying to yourself? Is it a good piece of art? I always ask myself these questions when I’m painting.

Which feelings bring you colored and black & white paintings?

Suzume: This is quite hard to explain with words. Colors and scenes are vaguely floating in my mind. I think that I tend to use the blue when I’m feeling fresh, and monochrome when I’m feeling deeply depressed.

As you have always been living and creating in Japan since your day one, do you feel that your heart belongs to Tokyo, or could you imagine being somewhere else?

Suzume: My heart is rooted in Tokyo at the moment. It’s because I’ve lived in Tokyo for so long that pieces of my memories are scattered all over this place. There are a lot of important people here. I believe it is the encounters with people that change your life. So if I meet important people, elsewhere, in the future, I might even live abroad to produce my work.

CREDITS 

Written & Directed by Teo Josserand & Yann Virassamy
Photography: Teo Josserand
Artist: Suzume Uchida
Garments: Yohji Yamamoto x Suzume Uchida
Models: Joshua Akiyama &
Sophie Vivian