Echiko Ohira
Reminiscence
"Since I was a young child I have liked to make things with paper, it was one of my everyday things."
Echiko Ohira, artist
Photo courtesy of the artist
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Life, the natural cycle of life and natural phenomenon in nature has been inspirational for me. I live in the moment and create work. Its like my diary. Everyday life and all living things become the source of my creativity.
Paper has always been a part of my life. I was born and grew up in a traditional Japanese house and there were so many “Fusuma screens and Shoji screens” that created space and made walls. There were always beautiful hanging scrolls. Paper is a core material in Japanese architecture, as well as in every aspect of Japanese culture.
Since I was a young child I have liked to make things with paper, it was one of my everyday things. I played with Origami, which is traditional child's play in Japan. My father was an architect and brought me lots of cast -off blueprints from his office. I would draw on the backside of the paper with pencil and make many objects out of this paper. When I first moved to Los Angeles, the first material I used in my work was brown paper bags that I used to carry groceries in from the supermarket to my apartment. Before I knew it, my apartment was full of stacks of these bags. I enjoyed making small sculptures with them. Soon, my living room turned into my little studio. It's because of my personal history that I work with paper, a basic, simple material of everyday life. I find such beauty in paper.