Five Minutes with... Eugenie Kawabata

Eugenie Kawabata Portrait, Photo: Courtesy of the artist

Eugenie Kawabata is an independent Naarm/Melbourne based designer and maker whose practice is located at the intersection of art and design. With a strong focus on materiality and sustainability, Kawabata’s work is defined by her skill and innovation in crafting objects from industrial waste, the artist stitching, dyeing, painting and impregnating the materials with resin to transform them into objects of value. We spend five minutes getting to know Eugenie and the creative process behind her exhibition Botanica Exotica: Unknown Civilisations.

The vessels featured in your exhibition are described as manifestations of your botanical observations. Can you walk us through the process of transforming these observations into tangible art pieces?

These works started with observations documented in photographs, sketches and notes. I’m interested in the often-overlooked elements, those unplanned encounters with the plantings in the formal Victorian parks and gardens near my home in inner Melbourne.

Sketches and photographs are the inspiration for extensive material experimentation and explorations into the surface treatments, colour and form that define my creative practice. My intention is to capture the essence of these observations, to amplify and heighten the messy, un-beautiful, untamed and unintentional elements into a baroque realisation.

The final works are a combination of formal constructs that uses pattern making, stitching, dying and finishes, while the organic elements offer surprise where the material is allowed to find its own expression.

How do you navigate the balance between the intentional design of your work and the organic, untamed elements that inspired it?

My work navigates the intersection of the intentional and the unintentional elements that surprise. The formal construction design is countered by the experimentation of materials, allowing an organic and animated expression. These contests resolve, granting the vessels a life and character of their own. They are competing influences on my creative practice.

Eugenie Kawabata, *Botanica Exotica: Unknown Civilisations #2* and #5, 2024, photographer: Adrian Lander

“the intention in my creative practice is to make objects that encourage and provoke curiosity and a more intimate connection to our environment. ”

Eugenie Kawabata, *Botanica Exotica: Unknown Civilisations #11*, 2024, photographer: Adrian Lander

The transformative power of design is a central theme in your work. Could you elaborate on how you believe craft and design shapes and enhances our interactions with the physical world?

The intention in my creative practice is to make objects that encourage and provoke curiosity and a more intimate connection to our environment. Good craft and design demand response and interaction. It contributes to our sense of identity, both as individuals and as a community. It adds tremendous value to our lives. The hands on making of unique, heirloom pieces can encourage new narratives and dialogues in an ever-changing digital world.

Sustainability is a key aspect of your work. Can you share some insights into how you integrate sustainability into your design process. Do you face any challenges in maintaining this commitment?

Industrial waste has been an element in my creative practice since 2014, when I used recycled glass in my Fold side tables and Flocked wall hooks.

In my Second Life series of work from 2019, I have primarily focused on textile waste from the upholstery industry. I still incorporate resin in my work and finding an alternative is a challenge. As an independent creative maker, I supplement my income with paid work, so the challenge is having the time to research commercially feasible and environmentally sustainable alternatives. Suggestions are most welcome!

As an artist, what do you hope viewers will take away from experiencing your exhibition, both aesthetically and conceptually?

I hope the exhibition encourages and provokes the viewer’s curiosity to pursue a more intimate connection to our botanical environment. Heading out the front door to discover their own wonderful parks; and gardens and to find what lies beneath their own Unknown Civilisations — the wonders, joys and surprises it holds.