“Beauty doesn’t lay in plane sight, but beyond soft heart.”

— From a series of insight gathered during conversations with crafts related people around Japan.

“Beauty is never far away. Years ago, I used to live in Tokyo. I would go through magazines, TV show, exhibitions, I would travel a lot, going every time a bit further, traveling to witness those things I was told were beautiful. Like many of us, I thought that beauty was hidden in exotic places, or luxury collection, and that was where one ought to find it. But actually, beauty is very near. In our surrounding, in the nature around us, in everyday situations, in routines even, there is beauty too. To see beauty, it is commonly said that beauty has to do something with the sight, and that you have to study long, to learn art history, all sorts of crafts and artistic expressions, you shall first be educated to be able to witness beauty in that curve, in this detail, in that ornament or this material. Some people will even look at art critic, size, price, weight, beauty would be matter of mesure. But I want to share something I have learned. Beauty is not intrinseque to an artefact, it grows from a context, a story around, from the relationship with its surrounding. It might be also things one may learn about, but for sure it is not linked to sight. According to me, to discover beauty where it is, one must be able to be touched. To witness beauty, it is a matter of having a soft heart rather than a sharp eye. Instead of searching, let yourself be touched.”

Matsumoto