Nami Yami is a Japanese American fiber artist and educator from the Boston area. Her weaving practice is heavily related to structure and environment. Nami’s practice centers large-scale, modular weavings designed to hang from ceilings and walls, forming architectural enclosures for viewers to walk under and spend time in. Space, light, and air are integral to to these woven spaces. Nami Yami’s art stems from the impossible feeling many children of immigrants endure: that she is in the wrong place, while simultaneously being home. These woven portals act as a sanctuary; bringing back the childish, pervasive feeling of being safe when one is lying under cloth.
Beyond weaving, Nami is an embroiderer, crochet artist, felter, and foam sculptor. Her varied approaches to traditional fiber art techniques are influenced by her aunties in Tokyo, the work of architect power couple Arakawa-Gins, and female bodily autonomy, particularly in times of societal unrest. To view her full body of work, please visit the “portfolio” page.
woven shoji
all of these weavings were created on a four harness floor loom, with a spaced warp.
these weavings are hung from ceilings, or wall to wall, where they overlap one another and encase the viewer.
Photosynthesize (weave) 7’x14.5’’
spaced warp, bamboo warp yarn, ribbon from Chinton, pale ribbon from a childhood vest, blue silk and gauze from my Cinderella costume my mother made me, fabric from Nippori, cording, stripped vintage dress i wore to the beach and to my first art auction.
Trinkets in the Wind , 10’ x18''
multicolor cotton warp yarn, spaced warp painted tulle from a wedding dress petticoat, fabric paint, necklaces, snail shells, stripped up polysilk slip skirts, ribbon, embroidery floss, tulle. woven in my second apartment, on my first ever personal floor loom.
Rainbow Clouds
14’1’’x 3’
cotton warp thread, spaced warp, monofilament, industrial tubing, wedding dress petticoat, glitter tulle, synthetic webbing from Halloween decorations, beading wire.
Purple Plastic Purse (weave)
8’5’’x2’
bamboo warp, spaced warp, ribbon, painted wedding dress petticoat, embroidery floss, chiffon ribbon, metal.
The multicolor transparent fabric was originally a layer to a wedding under skirt left behind at my work that I painted , wore for a summer, and stripped into weft yarns in fall of 2023.
Windowpane Weave
15’ 30’’x14’’
bamboo warp thread, spaced warp, stripped skirts, painted wedding petticoat, sheer organza, ribbons, mesh, tubing.
