Fukutoshi Ueno (aka Toshi) interview
February 19th, 2009 § 4 Comments
Fukutoshi Ueno (aka Toshi) is a Brisbane based designer that has recently received a lot of attention for his Code and Dress Code stools (see our previous post here). Toshi will be at at the launch of the Queensland Design Strategy 2020 at Living Edge in Brisbane tonight, so pop along and meet him in person if you can.
How did you come to be doing what you do? (eg. study, work experience etc…)
I first came to Australia in 1993 to study English. I have always been interested in designing beautiful things – jewellery, greeting cards, accessories, interior design, and now my furniture and bamboo sculptures as public art. I like to play with people’s imaginations, would like to express my own culture through my design. And so I went on to study interior design at QCA and QUT, and computer-assisted design processes here in Brisbane. To this point in my life, I have always been a freelancer; I have been very lucky in having the support of many friends here.
(above) Dress Code, designed in collaboration with Akira Isogawa
Describe a typical working day?
I love the freshness of mornings, but I find I do my most concentrated work after dark. After I get up, I water my plants and make my first pot of green tea for the day. I skim through my emails and then either continue my designs at the computer or launch into a series of phone calls and meetings associated with my work. Often there can be several a day. At night, when I don’t have deadlines, I like to relax with my friends. I love cooking and there is never any shortage of people to have dinner with!
Can you give us a brief rundown of your creative process?
When I have an idea, I let it settle in my mind for quite some days. Days or even weeks on end. At some stage, I will pencil it onto a sketchpad and play with it some more. When I feel I really have something interesting, I take it to the computer and play with it even more, and spend time with manufacture to get their advise. I do spend time with manufacturer at their workshop. Then very gradually, the idea takes form and substance and I can move ahead. However, I always ask myself for the reason when I design. Each design should be functional and meaningful.
(above) Fukutoshi’s original Code stools (minus the dress!)
Where do you look for inspiration?
When I first came to Australia, I fell in love with the country. And particularly Queensland, with its wild and wonderful profusion of colours, trees, flowers, waterways. I was struck by the way Australians have found a way of bringing the natural world into their lives. The unusual mix of, say, glass skyscrapers and palm-trees, not always very ecologically “correct” these days, was striking. I tried to combine this spirit of freshness and experiment with the more traditional aspects of my background in Japan. I still travel back to Japan several times each year and this renews my sense of origin. But very soon I am back in Brisbane and the world of my imagination. It is these two private worlds – the old Japan of my origins, and the vibrancy of my adopted country Australia – that I try to combine in my work.
(above) S-Code unit n walnut and steel
Who do you admire creatively?
I would have to say my dear friend and now colleague-collaborator Akira Isogawa. We have travelled down very similar paths, as Japanese designers trying to establish ourselves in Australia. I admire his sense of flow and adaptability. And perseverance. Our conversations are brimming with ideas and laughter. I have many friends in other areas too – fashion designers like Lydia Pearson, composers like Peter Sculthorpe, restaurant-chefs like Lien Yeomans, the flower-artist Hiroaki Eba. All of them play into my creative imagination in many ways.
(above) Code stools as exhibited in the Melbourne Museum last year
What has been a career highlight?
Late last year, the “Dress-Code” pieces that are the collaboration of Akira and myself went on show at the prestigious 100% Design: Tokyo 2008 exhibition. Barely a fortnight later, they were seen at a special Japanese-Australian evening at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra. And then, almost immediately, they were part of the Genji exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. At the same time, they were shown at Living Edge in Brisbane. I then realised that, within the space of six or seven weeks, they had had four showings in very different circumstances in four very different cities. But in each place they had the same positive and enthusiastic reaction. That would have to be the highlight of my work to date!
(above) Dress Code launch at Living Edge Brisbane in December 2008
What do you like/dislike about the Australian design industry?
It would be nice for Australian furniture companies to pay more attention to local designers rather than import products from overseas. Also I can see that there is sense of support between designers and local manufucture.
Can you share a goal with us for the future?
I would like to have my own design office and working on different scale of projects.
What are you reading at the moment?
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
What’s your favourite piece of furniture?
A Butterfly Chair by Sori Yanagi (below)
Voido by Ron Arad (below)
Moon System by Zaha Hadid (below)
Great Job
Great interview Toshi!
Thank you for sharing so honestly and simply your experiences, goals and dreams. I think your work is beautiful and will touch many people with it’s depth and complexity.
Best wishes to you, KT