A R T I S T
I N T E R V I E W

E R i N i

1. What makes you smile? 
Beer from noon with family and friends

2. What would your ideal day look like? …
A relaxed outing

3. If you could only keep one possession, what would you choose?
My car

4. What’s your favourite item of clothing?
I’d rather not wear anything

5. Yellow or red?
Yellow

6. Apple or orange?
I love mandarins

7. Cactus or fern?
Fern

8. What’s your favourite book?
Comic books

9. What would your animal self be?
A mouse

10. What has been a significant moment in your life, when nothing was quite the same again?
Travelling around South America: talking and laughing with animals

11. If you could choose anyone from history to talk to, who would it be?
The person who started fermented indigo dyeing in Japan

12. If you could ask any animal or living thing to tell you the story of their life, who/what would you
choose
Microorganisms

13. Why and when did you decide to become an artist? 
Since I was young I found it fun to create and express things

14. Why do you think art is important?
It enriches the heart

15. What motivates you as an artist?
Excitement and fun

16. How has your style changed over time?
It hasn’t changed

17. What artists inspire you?
The artistic friends and creators around me

18. Have you ever faced any difficulties in the process of making your art?
I create without sleeping so I tend to get sleep deprived

19. How do you approach a new project?
Communicating and experiencing the creative process

20. How do you handle creative blocks?
Sleep

21. What made you start working with indigo dye?
We happened to receive indigo seeds from a friend, and we held a workshop on fresh leaf dyeing
using the indigo we had grown ourselves. It was so much fun that we decided to turn it into a
career

22. What's one piece of advice you could give to an aspiring artist?
Be honest with yourself

23. Congratulations on the opening of your new Aizome arts space and lodge, 'Onokoro Ai'. Can you
tell us more about it? 
Onokoro Ai (おのころ藍)

We named it ‘Onokoro Ai’ in reference to the first island of Japan:
Awaji Island (‘Onogoro Island’).
It is depicted in a myth that Awaji Island is the birthplace of Japan.

2015 Indigo cultivation and dyeing began
2023 The new workshop studio and lodge next to an indigo field overlooking the sea was built

Here you can learn about the indigo production process and work with natural dyes throughout
the year.