​It’s a cliche but time is going by so quickly at my residency that I am torn between making work and taking in all that the city has to offer. So the decision has to be made about going to exhibitions and events and working in the studio. 

My compromise is to use my travels through the city to collect material that I can use in my work. More importantly  I cannot stitch for extended periods of time without running the risk of causing muscle strain so regular breaks are necessary. (OK that’s my excuse). 

I wouldn’t even try to count the number of galleries in Tokyo, there are just too many. In my first two and a half weeks I’ve seen exhibitions of Venetian Renaissance paintings, works from the Pompidou Centre in Paris and an excellent retrospective of Japanese-born photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto at the recently re-furbished Tokyo Photography Museum. 

In parallel to the stitching I mentioned in the last post I  am also working with photos I’ve taken, adding to them to make new images and making collages from catalogues and other things I have found. 

Don’t ask me where this is all going, that’s the whole point of making new work while on a residency!