It is our natural instinct to celebrate ourselves and our environment. An interview with Fumiko Gotô

I’ve always been interested in people who come into a profession from a different field. I’ve noticed that, in jewelry, many of them often come from architecture. In October, Hannah Gallery hosted an exhibition by jeweler Fumiko Gotô. Trained as an architect, she views jewelry primarily as objects. Her perspective is broad, multifaceted, and holistic — much like that of an architect. A connection to Japanese traditions, an intriguing play with scale, and even references to traditional Japanese sweets can all be found in Fumiko’s work. In our interview, she spoke with me about the philosophy behind her approach and the series of pieces presented at the exhibition.


Elena Karpilova: Could you tell us about your background and where you studied?
Fumiko Gotô: I studied art and architecture at a time when modernist architecture was still being celebrated. At the same time, I also experienced the turning point when architects began to question the methodology of modernist architects and rediscovered the meaning of ornament. As I approached the age of sixty, I felt it was time to take a direction that allowed me to be “freer” with myself, without depending on others, as architectural practice requires teamwork. Jewellery gave me full control from the beginning to the end of the creative process — sometimes it succeeds, sometimes not; sometimes it’s a coincidence that turns out to be satisfying, though, I’m rarely fully satisfied — that’s part of the process.



EK: You've mentioned ornament, is it an important aspect in your work?
FG: The presence of ornament goes back to the history of humankind — people have always decorated: tattoos, carvings, patterns. It’s a natural human instinct to celebrate oneself and one's environment.
In the series of SERIF, I was interested in how the decorative aspect of written text influences the understanding of readers. Medieval manuscripts, for instance, were very ornate; the typography itself carried power. I took the ornamental aspect of serif letters and projected it onto my pieces.


Series SERIF, brooch, hand-carved buffalo horn, argentium silver Inlay, silver 925, 2024


Ornament is an instinctive human expression. It can also be functional; for example, the hashioki — the chopstick rest — keeps chopsticks off the table for hygiene, but it also has aesthetic value. It’s a perfect example of how beauty and function coexist. For me, design is a concipient of pursuit of making life easier, not more complicated.


EK: How does architecture influence your work, and do you miss architectural practice?
FG: I have designed buildings, interiors, furniture — architecture is part of myself, and I live with architecture; its scale is different from Jewellery, but architecture is always a part of my life. I often take references from architectural details in my jewellery work. Architecture creates space; it must be experienced. Jewellery, too, should be experienced. Today, with smartphones, we risk reducing everything to superficial and noisy sensations, but as artists, we have a responsibility to remind people that reality exists beyond the iPhone.


EK: Interesting how from the scale of architecture you moved to other scale – jewellery. Also, overall, the concept of scale seems to play an important role in your work.
FG: Scale is essential. In architecture, we live in space and move within it, and architecture is based on the human scale. My series Wagashi is dedicated to the significance of the scale in relation to the human body. I was fascinated by the particular size of Wagashi: the size of Hitokuchi; they are designed to fit exactly in your mouth, without first taking a bite. This physical dimension, this “mouth scale”, and its aesthetic inspired me to create the series. Wagashi sweets engage five physical human senses — taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing. Wagashi pieces are often named after classical literature, so, with finesse, one can relate to and make references to literature.


HYÔTAN 022AMIC, brooch, series WAGASHI, hand-carved Mammoth tusk, deep-sea coral, chalcedony, silver 925, 60mm x 20mm x 25mm, 2019.


EK: Continuing our conversation about scale, could you tell us about your work Maquette 1:1?
FG: It is a series of triptychs based on architectural mouldings — the base, chair rail, and crown. I wanted to reveal the invisible into the visible; architects know how beautiful these moulding sections are, but we rarely see them. As the title implies, they are made at a one-to-one scale in beech wood, then finished with layers of Urushi lacquer. The process of Urushi lacquer is delicate. In Japan, where humidity is high, it can harden overnight; however in Europe, the work must be placed in a special humidifying box for more than 24 hours. Too much humidity — Urushi shrinks and wrinkles. Even colour behaves differently: black is easier, red darkens if it dries too quickly.


Series MAQUETTE 1:1, brooch in Tryptic, beech wood, urushi, silver 925, base: 102mm x 20mm x 10mm, rail: 85mm x 35mm x 10mm, crown: 116mm x 20mm x 10mm, 2021.


EK: Also, I’ve noticed that you create only brooches. Why this format?
FG: Brooches are free from one's body size — they can be worn, but can also be detached and displayed. Brooches don’t depend on the size of the finger as rings do, for example. I choose proportions of my brooches that harmonise with the human body — not too small, not too large. My definition of a good scale for a brooch is that, at a distance of 3 meters, it is clearly visible without a loupe. Also, it should be balanced with the person’s overall appearance — hair and eye colour, clothing style, etc. It’s like placing a piece of furniture or a work of art in a room: it should harmonise with the body and the space.


EK: Tell us about the exhibition Ressons de Babel, Paraules Guarnides in Hannah gallery. It’s related to language. What is language for you?
FG: My exhibition explores the diversity and the complexity of communication: can we communicate without text, speech, or even sight? Can we sense meaning?
With the series TACTILE, I created brooches with Braille text. Here, you communicate through touch with your hands. One text states Ordine e disordine (Order and disorder). It’s a tribute to Alighiero Boetti’s work; he collaborated with Afghan women who embroidered his words using their own colour choices.


HOMMAGE À A.BOETTI (ordine e disordine), brooch, series TACTILE, hand-carved Elforyn, spinel, jade, carnelian, Mother of pearl, silver 925, 65mm x 65mm x 9mm, 2025.


Another series, ENCLOSED, was an experiment in sensing the power of hidden texts— I employed epithets used in traditional Japanese poetry, known as Waka. These short sentences, called Makurakotoba (枕詞, “pillow words”), describe emotions or the essence of a poem. I selected and wrote epithets related to the five physical senses inside brooches, then sealed them with Urushi lacquer — unseen, but present. In ancient Japan, there was a concept called Kotodama (言霊) — the spirit of words. They believed that every word has its own spirit, its own life. Once spoken, it exists. Once you release them, they live in the air, in the space.


KUMOINASU (mind), brooch, series ENCLOSED, washi-paper, urushi-lacquer, silver 925, 95mm x 59mm x 11mm, 2023.
 

About the Interviewee

Born 1958, Sapporo, (JP), Fumiko Gotô studied fine arts and architecture in the US. She has worked at various architectural firms in such locations as Los Angeles (US), New York (US), Zurich (CH) and Basel (CH) and has been head of her own office, first in Los Angeles and then in Basel. During over thirty years of practicing architecture, she has worked at different scales and with various typologies. Published internationally, her projects have not only entailed buildings and interiors, but also furniture design. Recently she has taken on a new scale and genre in creating jewellery, inspired by her native Japanese culture. Since 1995, Fumiko has been living and working in Basel.

Website: http://www.fumiko-goto.ch
Instagram: @fumiko_goto

About the author

Elena Karpilova was born in Belarus in 1987. Since 2022, she has lived in Lisbon, Portugal. From 2005–2009, she studied art at Glebov Art College as fine artist (Belarus); from 2010–2016 she studied at the University of Culture and Arts (Belarus) as a comparative art critic. She is an art critic, an artist, and the head of an interdisciplinary project for children and youth, the Architectural Thinking School for Children, which now works in Portugal with families of migrants. “Due to a lack of education in the jewelry field in Belarus," says Karpilova, "I've been studying the subject on my own." Writer, content maker for ArtJewelryForum. Member of PIN association, Portugal. Member AGC (Association of Contemporary Jewellery), Italy. Finalist of the AGC Italy - Association of Contemporary Jewellery's Maria Cristina Bergesio Award 2024. Participant of Lisbon Jewelry Biennial 2024 as curator of L’étrangère project. 

Website: https://elenakarpilova.com/
Instagram: @karpilova