In late 2022, Chika Mizusawa — best known under the moniker Genkakulemon — served up a feast fit for a twisted Alice in Wonderland banquet. On the menu: a bright blue embroidered fish bleeding yellow blood and flowers onto a ceramic white plate, a vermillion rose with a steak at its center, and a vibrant red lobster growing a bouquet across its lower abdomen.
Mizusawa’s curious creations struck a chord online, drawing thousands of followers to her Instagram. She has since branched out into making heart brooches — the organ kind — that bloom with stumpworked flowers, and single hands clutching bouquets.
TW sat down with Mizusawa to have a chat about all things twisted and artistic.
What fueled your interest in embroidery and ceramics?
I’m from Miyagi Prefecture, but I have been in Tokyo since I was 18 to attend art school, where I studied oil painting. I’ve always loved creating, and I’ve kept a sketchbook with me from a very young age. I’d always be drawing and creating things with my hands. I was in sewing club during elementary school and would often play around with clay. I started Genkakulemon seriously in 2020.
How did you pick the name Genkakulemon?
When I was young, I wanted to be a manga artist. I had written “Genkakulemon” in my sketchbook, so when I decided to start an art group with two friends, I put that name forward for the group. I won a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors so we became Genkakulemon. In the end, it became a solo project, but I kept the name because I liked the sound of it.
Your online profile says your eternal theme is “For a Girl.” Can you expand on this?
There is a French film I love called L’Amant, where the lead character has a free and innocent side but also an air of mystery, which is cold, mature and erotic. I like this mysteriousness, and I think all women are like that. This mixture of light and dark provides inspiration for all my works.
Bitten Heart Brooch (2023): Ceramic. Stumpwork
How did you get the idea for your food series?
The rose piece was the very first thing I wanted to make. In Japanese, “bara” means rose but is also a cut of meat, so I always had that at the back of my mind as an idea. There is also the association of “bara” murders — where the body is dismembered — making it “bara, bara, bara …”
From there, I thought it would be good to do a feast of daydreamed food. I originally thought I’d sew flowers growing out of a Coelacanth, but the image of flowers bleeding out grew on me. When I posted it on Instagram, I never expected it to have the reaction it did. When it blew up, I thought I’d been hacked and started Googling ways to check.
Who or what inspires you?
When I was younger, I read a lot of books. I was always reading. I read a lot of Shuji Terayama, an avant-garde poet and novelist. In terms of visual imagery, I’m a great admirer of Japanese painter Kuniyoshi Kaneko.
Find Genkakulemon on Instagram.
