{"id":30851,"date":"2012-06-20T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-19T23:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.fragmentsmag.com\/en\/?p=30851"},"modified":"2015-03-30T15:15:29","modified_gmt":"2015-03-30T06:15:29","slug":"interview-katayama-mari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.fragmentsmag.com\/en\/2012\/06\/interview-katayama-mari\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing High Heels with Amputated Legs \/ Artist, Mari KATAYAMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Her exhibition was titled \u201cHigh Heels.\u201d Two portraits were arranged at the back, one was of a girl wearing \u201clegs she used to have\u201d lying inside a small room filled with clothes, cushions, books, boxes and many other goods; the other showed a girl wearing high heels with stockings and a garter belt. In front of them, objects made of fabrics along with other pieces of art on the subject of legs and feet were displayed.<\/p>\n

Starting from very private matters about the body, the artist connected the dots from various stages of life (memories from childhood, current daily life, and hope for the future), with various structural forms that can\u2019t be described in words.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was how her works of art were reviewed. It is a hyper-real collection, as Jean Baudrillard would say. However, the high-heels that she wore for the ceremony are completely separate from her \u201chigh heel\u201d artwork series.<\/p>\n

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“High Heels”, 2012 http:\/\/www.shell-kashime.com\/<\/a><\/p><\/div>
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In 2011, with a goal to wear high heels on a live music show, Mari had prosthetic feet that could be used with high heels imported from the U.S. They were called \u201chigh-style.\u201d As she created shoes for her new feet, she discovered a problem that prosthetic leg users face.<\/p>\n

\nAs I proceed the project to achieve my goal, I found what prosthesis users face. Users lack chance to choose–Not only to choose high-heels, but also to choose to wear sandals, skirts, jackets… People don’t even know that they CAN choose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Therefore, she named her challenge the \u201cHigh Heel Project,\u201d and positioned it differently from her other works of art, to draw attention to her insistence that can’t be put into words.<\/p>\n

Mari describes high heels as follows, \u201cFor having both of the legs amputated, I could easily change my height. However, the small lift high heels creates completely a different view than my legs can give.\u201d<\/strong> \u3002She shared her thoughts with me about the High Heel Project and fashion.<\/p>\n

\u2192Next Page\uff1aAbout Fashion and Being a Teenager<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

About Fashion and Being a Teenager<\/h3>\n
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“in my room”, 2009http:\/\/www.shell-kashime.com\/<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI loved fashion but the reason that I came to fashion myself was because of bullying during my teenage years. I tried to express myself by coloring my prosthetic legs like rainbows and I did many things with them. Bullies never tried to listen to me. So I thought, if they won\u2019t hear my words, I need to let them \u201csee\u201d my thoughts<\/strong>. So I styled myself pretty uniquely. Maybe it was bit peculiar. I colored my hair green; I totally shaved off my eyebrows and wore really short skirts. I was scolded by the teachers so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in my hometown in Gunma Prefecture (north of Tokyo), I looked on the Internet to see if there were shops that sold the clothes that models in teen magazines such as Zipper<\/i> and Cutie<\/i> wore. If there were any nearby, I went to see them with my mother. But since I was fat back then, many of them didn\u2019t fit me. Of course, my legs were also the reason that I couldn\u2019t easily find anything in which I felt comfortable. Skinny pants for example, when I bend my knees and stand up again, fabrics get stuck at the back of knee. These kinds of things really bothered me at that time so that I couldn\u2019t freely enjoy what I want to wear. So, I usually went to Uniqlo and bought something similar to what I wanted, in a larger size. I resized it into my size and wore them, maybe with original paintings and drawings.<\/p>\n

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\u201cright legs\u201d, 2012 http:\/\/www.shell-kashime.com\/ <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
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\u201cpink legs\u201d, 2009 http:\/\/www.shell-kashime.com\/ <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

\u201cRegardless of how much I love fashion, I couldn\u2019t wear high heels. Leggings and skinny pants are cool because they show line of the body. If I wore them, they seemed uncool, because it was somehow unnatural. My passion for fashion was extreme. I think I wanted to have everything perfect according to what I expected. Maybe an emotion that I unknowingly suppressed was being released. Anyway, I think I wanted to express myself badly.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, I was born to a family in which needlework was common, so it was natural for me to make myself clothes if I couldn\u2019t find what I wanted. But now, I don\u2019t care about fashion anymore, jeans and t-shirts are just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2192Next Page\uff1aAbout Shoes and High Heels<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

About Shoes and High Heels<\/h3>\n
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“High Heel Project”, 2012 http:\/\/www.shell-kashime.com\/<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI only wore black shoes back then, even now most of my shoes are black. However, if I found shoes that I really fell in love with but the height of the heels didn\u2019t fit, I\u2019d take them to a prosthesis factory and have them fixed to fit into my feet. When you have prosthetic flat feet, you can only wear totally flat shoes. Even five millimeters is a big deal. You can\u2019t put weight on the tiptoe to step in and kick up, so if the heel slips, everything slips.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen looking for shoes that fit with any clothes and are comfortable for walking, \u2018comfort shoes\u2019 are the only choice you get. I have been repeat buying Tokyo Shoes Retailing Center\u2019s (large shoe retail chain) original slip-ons for three years. They are really comfortable, and they are matte black so I can wear them with any clothes. But this year, they stopped producing them! So, I need to find what to wear next.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m thinking of New Balance. They originally started as a manufacturer of supportive devices for physically handicapped people, so their shoes are really good. But the problem is that sneakers have laces. I have to take the lace completely off to wear them. There are belted-type sneakers, but don\u2019t you think this type narrows what you can wear with them? So, I\u2019m wondering.<\/p>\n