藍 ai - A life of creativity in Indigo by Sachiko Watanabe
For over twenty years, Sachiko Watanabe has lived with indigo — growing it, fermenting it, dyeing with it, and shaping her days around its rhythms. Traveling from her home in Japan, she brings this quiet, deeply personal practice to the JCCC for the first time. Rooted in one of Japan's oldest natural dyeing traditions, natural indigo sukumo fermentation, this exhibition invites you to slow down and step into her world — to see, touch, and feel the colour of a life shaped by patience, land, and time. Join us in welcoming her to Toronto.
About the Exhibition
The exhibition follows the full life cycle of indigo — from seed to sukumo, from vat to fabric, from field to everyday life. Visitors will encounter:
- The Making of Sukumo — a year-long journey through sowing, transplanting, harvesting, drying, and fermenting indigo leaves
- Shades of Indigo — a study of the many named hues within the indigo spectrum, from pale aijiro(藍白) to deep kachi-iro(搗色)
- Textiles & Objects — a curated collection of dyed khadi, cotton, linen, hemp, and wool pieces, shaped by Sachiko's hand
- Everyday Indigo — an invitation to touch, smell, and wrap yourself in indigo cloth
- Living with Indigo — a reflection on more than twelve years spent in an old farmhouse, where growing, fermenting, and dyeing indigo have become inseparable from daily life
Opening Reception & Artist Talk
Please join us on January 16 at 2pm
Workshops
Details coming soon!
Artist bio:
Sachiko Watanabe (渡辺幸子) was born in 1977 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. After studying textile design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, she encountered natural indigo dye at the Iyo Kasuri Centre in Ehime. This encounter marked the beginning of a practice that has continued for more than 20 years. Sachiko later moved to Onomichi, Hiroshima, where she developed her work with indigo. Today, she grows her own indigo plants on Mukaishima, an island off the coast of Onomichi. She combines her harvest with sukumo, traditionally fermented indigo leaves from Tokushima Prefecture, to create her own natural dye. Living in a traditional Japanese house, where she also exhibits and sells her work, Sachiko continues to work closely with indigo each day. Through her textiles, she hopes to share its quiet beauty and to remind us of the natural world that surrounds and embraces us.
Her exhibitions include Indigo in Our Daily Lives (2019), Indigo, Simultaneously (2021), Indigo in Winter (2021), Indigo in Darkness (2022), and Intaking Indigo (2024)
Photo: © Toshinori Tanaka
