Hideko Takahashi (born 1950, Tokyo) is a respected textile artist who studied, and later taught, weaving at the Otsuka Textile Design Institute. She studied under Junichi Arai (born 1932), a textile designer and weaver renowned worldwide for his experimental textile work which combines the traditional with the latest fabrics and technologies. The two subsequently formed a textile company, now defunct, under the name 'Junichi Arai'. Hideko Takahashi has also worked with the Mitasho Company in Gumma, a textile company that frequently collaborates with young designers to develop prototypes for fabrics, and with the Textile Research Institute of Gumma.

Hideko Takahashi's 'Great Square Jump' is an excellent example of her work. It is made from wool, her signature material, and was produced using machine shrinkage, a technique of particular interest to the maker. At the same time, the cloth marks a new direction in Takahashi's work and signals a move away from the fascination with stripes that has informed her practice for some years. The unique cloth is also representative of a wider innovative and experimental approach to textile design and production in contemporary Japan.

After experimenting with a range of materials, Hideko Takahashi found her ultimate material in wool and now works exclusively in the fibre. Wool appeals to the artist for its capacity to felt and to shrink, properties which are used to advantage in 'Great Square Jump' and are essential to its design.

When first woven, the rounded parts of the Jacquard woven textile were made as large squares and the connecting thread-like aspects of the textile consisted of unwoven thread. The final circular lace-like effect was created by deliberately shrinking and felting the entire piece in a washing machine before finishing it by hand.

Designed 1994, made 1995

Textile, 'Great Square Jump', wool, Jacquard woven, hand cut, felted and finished, designed and made by Hideko Takahashi, Japan, 1994-1995

This cloth by Hideko Takahashi is made from Jacquard woven wool in dark grey. Making use of wool's tendency to shrink, the round areas were originally woven as squares which became round after they were washed in a washing machine. Similarly, the fine strands between rounded pieces were left unwoven, they then bonded in the machine creating an overall lace-like effect.

Designed: Takahashi, Hideko; ; 1994

Made: Takahashi, Hideko; Japan; 1995

2003/141/1

1994

700 mm

3100 mm