REIKO BRANDON

My Textile Journey

Fiber artist Reiko Brandon will bring the audience on a journey beginning almost four decades ago, when she arrived at the East-West Center as a young Fulbright student from Japan. Reiko has been strongly influenced by the cultural and physical environment of Hawai‘i, especially in her early work, while her later pieces bridge influences from across the Pacific. After earning an MFA in fiber art from the University of Hawai‘i, Reiko subsequently made a trip back to Japan. This journey brought the influence of her native culture back into her work, while a parallel career track in theatre set and costume design brought forth the kinetic qualities and installation possibilities of fiber. The result was the unique blend of a contemporary art approach with Japanese and island themes, techniques, materials and processes we associate with her art today.