How can we be intimate with the past? Human beings have always yearned to know the ways and feelings of those who came before. History books, old folk music, paintings and petroglyphs: All of these tell us about how our ancestors thought and felt. For textile craftswoman Eiko Noda, the way to feel what our great-grandparents felt is to wear their clothes.
"To me," says Noda in her warm voice, "the rips and tears on a garment worn by a farmer or laborer 100 years ago let us, living today, taste the way of life of a person who has passed away long ago."
For more than 10 years, Noda has been searching out old work jackets, kimono and various assorted pieces of fabric at flea markets, and crafting them into lush revivals of an old aesthetic. She adds patches or scraps to these garments to fashion a piece of clothing that is both old and new.