When I visited Japan for the first time in 1993, I encountered a culture with an incredibly sophisticated visual language that telegraphed personality and custom in subtle and creative ways. On subsequent trips and continuing study, I've fallen in love with an artistic tradition that doesn't distinguish between high and low, or fine and applied, arts. This Japanese view of art as life has resonated deeply with my own creative journey – and has inspired it ever since.

In 2016, I wanted to make a kimono-style coat out of a WW2 US Army blanket and some vintage kimono fabric, and so I taught myself how to make a pattern and how to sew – and I made one. That coat soon led to others, and, as my sewing and pattern-making skills improved, I started started experimenting with other types of garments and other types of fabrics. Every piece I make is an experiment of its own, and now, many years later, I am continually trying out new ideas and new techniques.

One thing that I love about Japan is that it is a textile culture, and you can learn about their culture through their textiles. I now have a sizable collection of vintage Japanese kimonos, but I am always on the lookout for pieces that fascinate my mind as well as my eye.

When I'm disassembling vintage kimonos, I often think of the Japanese women who sewed them by hand decades ago. They would often repurpose old textiles in their households, embodying the concept of mottainai – letting nothing go to waste. My parents grew up during the Depression, and they passed on similar values to me. And so it feels good not only to work with beautiful textiles from a culture that I love, but also to reanimate Japanese artistic traditions for a modern, Western audience.