クレアのコラム ｜ 4. 和刺繍、ひと針の響きー造形を音が支える不思議 ｜Japanese Embroidery, The Resonance of a Single Stitch ― Form Sustained by Sound

和刺繍、ひと針の響きー造形を音が支える不思議

布に針を刺す、ひと針ひと針･･･。
その度にすーっと、とても心地よい音がして心癒される。大好きな音のひとつです。

同じ類いの音に、トウシューズのコツ、コツとした音があります。
あの音が好きでバレエを観に行くのだと言った人もいました。

まったくジャンルも音も違うのに心地よさは同じで、私の脳はむしろ同質のものと受け取っている。澄んだ音は一瞬にしてあらゆるものに沁み込み、その性質さえ浄化し向上させてくれます。

精神が作品に与える影響は計り知れず、そう考えるともしかしたら、あの脇役すぎる音たちも、欠かせない存在なのかもしれません。

ひと針刺すごとに、すー、すーっ･･･　すー、すーっ･･･

少しそよそよとした感じにも似てますよね。こうして言葉にするだけで心が軽くなるのですから、不思議です。まぁ、癒しはさ行の得意分野ではありますが･･･＾＾

ゴーディファイの最高名誉神官リーリアは、サクサクトロトロのアップルパイと編み物が得意でした。
編むことが広げる行為だとしたら、刺繍は重ねる行為。
どちらも古から続く手仕事の代表格ですが、ある種際限なく掘り下げられる分野です。

一つのことを掘り下げていくと、ある段階を越えた時、途端に“わかる”様になると聞きます。環境や状況が変わっても、どんな時にもどんな場面でも、“あぁ、こういうことか”と、本当にある日突然。

もしかしたらリーリアは、だからこそ生まれた時からゴーディファイの最高名誉神官だったのかもしれません。彼女の魂はきっともう、生まれた時からすべてわかっていたのでしょう。

けれど、普通はそうは行きませんよね。
そこまで行きつくのに本当に長い道のりを、長い時間をかけて歩いていかなければならない。これはどんな分野でも同じで、けれど一旦わかれば違う分野の事まで大抵のことはわかってしまう、不思議な知恵の領域。文殊菩薩様の視座とでも言うのでしょうか。

和刺繍はひと針重ねるごとに、否応なしに心が織り込まれてしまうもの。機械刺繍ですら心を込めて操作すれば人の心が宿るのですから、当然でしょう。

そうならば糸を重ねる度、色を重ねる度に、清き心を織り込みたいと思うのは必然。素材でも材料でもないあの音が、刺し手の心を整え、刺し手の気持ちを後押ししてくれるからこそ、長きにわたり、より美しく格調高い芸術的作品が創り上げられてきたのかもしれません。

そしてそうした作品を一つ一つ創り上げる毎に、心の襞も重ねられ、もしかしたら人間国宝という存在は、リーリアのような方たちなのかもしれないなぁ･･･と思った今日この頃です。

今日はクレアが風邪気味でしたので、瑠璃さんが書かせていただきました＾＾

―― 文・構成：安東瑠璃

Translated faithfully from the original Japanese.

Crea’s Column

Episode4 : Japanese Embroidery, The Resonance of a Single Stitch
Form Sustained by Sound

Each time the needle enters the cloth, one stitch at a time…
A soft, gentle sound arises, and with it, a quiet sense of comfort spreads through the heart. It is one of the sounds I truly love.

There is a similar kind of sound in ballet — the delicate tap, tap of pointe shoes.
I once heard someone say that this sound alone was reason enough to attend the ballet.

The genres and the sounds themselves are entirely different, yet the comfort they bring feels the same. My mind seems to recognize them as belonging to the same essence. Clear, refined sounds permeate everything in an instant, purifying and elevating even the nature of what they touch.

The influence of the mind upon a work of art is immeasurable. Seen in this way, perhaps these seemingly modest supporting sounds are, in truth, indispensable presences.

With every stitch: soo… soo…
soo… soo…

There is something almost like a gentle breeze in that rhythm, is there not?
It is curious how even describing it in words seems to lighten the heart. Perhaps this is no coincidence — after all, soothing sounds often belong to the soft consonants of breath.

Reelia, the Highest Honorary Priestess of Godyffai, was skilled in both baking crisp-yet-tender apple pies and in knitting. If knitting may be thought of as an act of expanding outward, embroidery is an act of layering. Both are representative handcraft traditions that have continued since ancient times, and both are fields that can be explored without limit.

It is often said that when one continues to delve deeply into a single discipline, there comes a moment — once a certain threshold is crossed — when understanding suddenly arrives. Regardless of environment or circumstance, in any situation, one simply recognizes, “Ah, so this is how it is.” And that realization appears quite suddenly, one day.

Perhaps this is why Reelia was, from the moment of her birth, the Highest Honorary Priestess of the Kingdom of Godyffai. Her soul may have already understood everything from the very beginning.

But ordinarily, it does not happen so easily. Reaching such a state requires walking a truly long path over a great span of time. This is true in any field. And yet, once that understanding is attained, one often finds that even matters of entirely different disciplines begin to reveal themselves. It is a mysterious realm of wisdom — perhaps what might be called the perspective of Monju Bosatsu, the Bodhisattva of transcendent insight.

With every stitch layered in Japanese embroidery, the heart inevitably becomes interwoven. Even machine embroidery, when operated with care and intention, can carry the presence of human feeling — so it is only natural.

Then surely, each time thread is layered, each time color is layered, one wishes to weave a pure heart into the work as well.

That subtle sound — neither material nor tool — gently aligns the embroiderer’s mind and continually encourages the spirit. Perhaps this is why, across long spans of time, ever more beautiful and dignified works of artistic refinement have been created.

And with each work completed, perhaps the folds of the heart are layered as well. It occurred to me today that those recognized as Living National Treasures may, in some sense, be people much like Reelia.

Today’s column was written by Ruri, as Claire was feeling slightly under the weather.

— Written and composed by Ruri Ando