A new (to me) creative rabbit hole.  The world has felt especially heavy and all I want to do is make art.  It’s how I recharge my battery for when my words are needed, when it’s my turn to share my voice.  Art is the consuming vice I allow myself where others may choose something more mood altering.  (No judgments here, the world is weird and wild to say the least). 

Recently I stumbled upon Kinusaiga while doom scrolling through a social media feed.  So I did what I often do when my curiosity is piqued… I watched a few more videos and read some articles to find out the origins and the process. I turned my consuming into creating.  

Kinusaiga is an art technique first introduced  in the late 1980s by Setsu Maeno, a Japanese artist who “paints” with silk. Seriously go check out their work, it’s breath-taking to say the least. 

The word Kinusaiga translates to Silk Painting.

In short, the process is art that’s achieved by tucking pieces of fabric into a flat surface with pre-cut lines, thus resulting into a unique quilted look. No sewing, just cut fabric and precision placement to make sure it gets tucked in to the correct grooves.  When I create a piece, I approach the subject the same way I would when illustrating a tattoo, some of the line drawings I’ve worked on, seem almost impossible without the color reference to make it make sense.  It feels akin to painting by numbers with fabric once I’m finished with my “map”.

Some of the portraits I have created have taken me anywhere from 6 to 10+ hours to complete. (Not including the prep work of the line drawings and color mapping) There’s a definite meditative aspect to it that is so needed right now.

Tucking in (fabric) to calm the mind!

I have loved experimenting with this technique, inspired by the super detailed works of Setsu Maeno. Studying their methods and trying my hand with the process. Exploring the boundaries, applying my own personal touches & techniques in order to come up with new ways to create in the vein of Kinusaiga. My love for animal portraiture has naturally progressed into this style, as well as, seeing how some of my other tattoo inspired pieces may look through this lens.

A love of texture and form. Kinusaiga forces me to be in the moment, to trust and enjoy the creative process.

If this creative process interests you, we have also been creating kits of some of our simpler designs. They can be found in our DIY Kits section. The kits we offer are simpler than my current animal portraiture obsession. 

I’m currently accepting commissions for pet portraits.

Kinusaiga portraits start at $300 for an 8” x 8” finished piece — complete in a custom handmade frame for display. (If a larger portrait with multiple pets is desired, then the price will go up accordingly). 

If you wish to proceed, I would need a good photo of your beloved pet. In which I will be duplicating the animal pose in the image, the surrounding detail is eliminated in order to create a dynamic background that spotlights the portrait. Turnaround time is roughly 2-4 weeks from when the payment and photo is received. (completion times are subject to change depending on my workload)

If you are interested, please fill free to contact me.