Lacemaking Techniques Infuse Ayame Uchima's Illustrations

Paris-based illustrator Ayame Uchima, originally from Okinawa, incorporates traditional lacemaking into her drawing practice. After moving to Paris in 2017, she trained at École Lesage in Lunéville embroidery and later acquired a complete set of bobbin lace-making tools. She attends a monthly lace club in the countryside, learning how patterns emerge from interlocking threads. This hands-on work merges with her drawings of imagined lace pieces, inspired by ancient motifs. Uchima describes her work as a portal between reality and fantasy, aiming for a surface beauty shadowed by unease, citing influences like Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar, Leo Lionni's Parallel Botany, and Wes Anderson's films. Her pieces include titles such as Angel Gleam, Two Fishes and a Dinner, and Three Beautiful Butterflies.