Graphics Interview: Eiko Ishioka

Graphis, Nov/Dec 2000 by Bowen, Linda Cooper

Eiko Ishioka, a fusion of many influences and inspirations, is a contem

porary avant-garde artist who has transcended the boundaries of her heritage to become a citizen of universal culture. For Eiko, who was

born and educated in Japan and whose early career was in advertising and graphic design, her costume and production design for the stage and film have given her new opportunities to creat unexpected and revolutionary work. Since she doesn't limit herself to the traditions of fashion or theater she is, free to explore beyond its conventional restrictions. In fact, she has no formal training as a costume-maker or a production designer and lets others determine how to actually construct her ideas. An outsider to the film industry, Eiko has won several awards, including a special Cannes Film Festival Award in 1984 for Mishima directed by Paul Schrader, a Tony Award for best costume design in 1988 for M. Butterfly, and an Oscar for best costume design in 1992 for Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Recently, she created the costumes for the film The Cell, directed by Tarsem Dhandwar, and continues to be sought out by adventurous directors for her fresh and unique vision.

In the film Dracula, Coppola wanted the costumes to be lavish and complex, to become, in fact, the sets as well as the costumes, and Eiko's creations surpassed all expectations. According to Coppola, Eiko has little patience with people who ask her about the small details of getting things done because she already has a clear vision of the finished product. What is she like to work with? He describes her as very hard to say "no" to, because she is often very tough in defending her concepts, but she is also optimistic, idealistic and affectionate. Finishing a project is a struggle for her because it marks the end of opportunities to make it perfect.

Although Eiko was the art director for the striking new book, Eiko on Stage, (Callaway Editions), she did not have the final choice of the works shown. Not included are her political, con troversial or radical projects like a documentary film on German photographer and director Leni Riefenstahl, posters on the subjects of peace, political torture and an AIDS hospice benefit. and a set of three books for the Vatican on the restoration of Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel. One needs to be reminded that she has not "gone Hollywood" and remains today an artist of integrity and deep commitment.

Despite being a strong-willed perfectionist, Eiko does not insist on unconditional acceptance of her concepts and welcomes the collaborative process. She believes that there should be friction between the artists as they argue and grapple with ideas, analyzing and discarding their own convictions. "I crave the wonderful product born from the volatile creative journey traveled with another artist. " Eiko has worked with composer Philip Glass, jazz musician Miles Davis, fashion designer Issaye Miyake and architect Arata Izozaki. On screen or on stage, her work does not blend in or subtly disappear. Original, strange and sensual, she makes the production itself the storyteller, visualizing time and place with uncommon, arresting images. Eiko has a reputation for being a somewhat feisty, atypical Alpha female, and I expected that this interview could be problematic. It was, therefore, totally surprising to be introduced to this warm, passionate woman artist.

Graphis: After a long and successful career in advertising and graphic design in Japan, you made a surprising move into costume and production design. When did you become interested in this new area and how did it begin?

Ishioka: I was discovered by Nicolas Callaway at a presentation I made in New York in 1982 at the Japan Society. This was a show for a Japanese audience of my graphic design and advertising done in Tokyo. Callaway offered to publish a book on my work and I spent almost a year designing the book. During that time I had the sense that I was being drawn into a new career, a new journey. This was a mysterious instinct or force, an instinct that I could not really understand. After the book Eiko by Eiko came out in 1983, the film director Paul Schrader discovered it and called me. Paul asked me to be the production designer for the film Mishima. When I asked, `Why meT Paul said he wanted to develop a new style of film-making and needed someone to create a completely new visual concept. The film's producer, Tom Luddy, knew my work, and I had designed the poster for Apocalypse Now for Francis Ford Coppola, another partner in the project. I was lucky that these three men agreed to hire me, but I was an incredibly risky choice for them. Although I knew film production from my experience as a director of television commercials, I had no formal technical training in costume design, production or film. Mishima was my first production design for film. They opened my new door.

Graphis: Film and stage work are a collaboration. Do you enjoy being part of a creative team more than working as a graphic designer, which tends to be a more solitary pursuit?