Yoriko Oki

Yoriko was born in Tokyo Japan, and her interest in textile and fibre arts dates back to her early childhood.  Under the guidance of her mother and grandmother, she was exposed to various media, including knitting, crochet, hand-embroidery, and sewing.  As a curious child, she further explored various aspects of these arts, learning from books and her own experiences.

            Therefore, when Yoriko moved to Canada and gave up her 6-year long career as an architect in Tokyo, it was a natural decision for her to revisit her earlier fascination.  She went through very intensive training of Helen Lefeaux School of Fashion Design for 10 months and graduated in July 1999 with the Best Overall Achievement Award.  Two months later, Yoriko was hired by the school as Assistant Instructor.  Over the next 2 years, she spent much of her time at the school helping students, while honing her skills and gaining considerable knowledge regarding the fashion field.  At the same time, Yoriko attended many textile-arts related workshops to deepen her understandings of fabrics.  And, gradually, weaving has become her chosen field.

Currently, Yoriko operates weaving and fashion design business from her home studio in Richmond, B.C.   Her work can be purchased at the fibreEssence Gallery in Vancouver, the Crafthouse in Vancouver, and the Circle Craft Christmas Market, a fine-craft exhibition held at the Canada Place, Vancouver every November.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Yoriko’s works involve hand-weaving and often combined with other textile techniques, such as dyeing, beading and embroidery.  Her basic design concept is to help people to exercise a little flare in their daily lives.  Therefore, many of her works strive to be practical and, with subtle design features, elegant at the same time.

Some people categolize weavers into 2 groups: structure weavers, and color and texture weavers.  However, Yoriko seems to fall into both of these categories.  Yoriko spends long hours in front of the computer, developing and designing weaving structures, while her love of colours and scrutiny of details only serve to add more dimensions to her work.

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