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Jenni Barry: Kimekomi Artist
Jenni Barry was raised in a small community in South San Francisco Bay area. Jenni experienced a head injury at the age of fourteen that was the initial cause of some partial seizures and memory issues later in her life. She attended Sierra Nevada College, where she received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting in 1995. She struggled to find her way as a painter in an art world, that was rapidly converting to a digital platform, that she was never trained for. Her interest in textiles began in 2010. It was Christmas time and she noticed an ornament on the tree. It was a foam ball with little pieces of fabric tucked into it, giving the apperance of having been quilted. She then used the technique to cover an entire ceiling. That ceiling inspired her to create her unique two-dimensional art. She did not know it at the time but this technique is called Kimekomki. To see more of her work check her website.
Kimekomi History
Kimekomi means tuck and groove and was created in the middle of the 18th century (1732-1741). Takahashi Tadashige was a resident artist and priest in the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto. He sculpted dolls from leftover willow bark and wheat paste. Then, he cut grooves into them, where he tucked pieces of fabric recycled from kimono robes. (Once kimonos are worn in a ceremony they are discarded, allowing a surplus of beautiful fabric.) The dolls became keepsakes of the ceremonies that the kimonos were worn in. Over the centuries, the process has been used to make dolls, sculptures of animals and most commonly recognized holiday ornaments.