​　During the Industrial Revolution, the advance of mechanisation—particularly in the cotton textile industry—boosted demand for iron, leading to the development of steelmaking technology and ushering in an era of mass production via the blast furnace process. Once a blast furnace is fired up, the fire cannot be extinguished until the end of its operational life. Consequently, continuous production is maintained through a three-shift system operated by workers; today, with the addition of digitalisation driven by AI, the factory continues to operate without interruption. The iron continuously refined from the blast furnaces passes through numerous processes and is transported along rails laid within the factory according to its intended purpose. This routine operation, driven by the pace dictated by our production- and consumption-oriented society, serves to increase the volume of material. ‘jumo’ is a work inspired by the backdrop and scenery of the steelworks, where heavy machinery and human labour intertwine.

　The pattern, with its soft, velvety texture that resembles a micrograph, incorporates the image of ‘jumo’ (the Japanese pronunciation), a fine, protruding mucosal tissue found in the placenta. The ‘chorionic villi’, which connect the foetus to the mother and facilitate the exchange of nutrients and oxygen, are superimposed upon the blast furnace—often referred to as the ‘mother’ of the steelworks.
The patterns created on the joined fabric, following a certain regularity, are formed by aggregates of iron scrap particles—material that has been consumed and rendered redundant during factory processing after shipment.

A screen is used to print the design, fixing the iron powder in place. This continuous manual labour, whilst seemingly going against the tide of mechanisation, serves to enhance materiality (including quantitative expansion). This repetitive process of re-producing from what has been consumed represents the heat and scenes of the factory committed to memory, as well as the warmth of the movement and interconnection of life lurking beneath the material world, bringing to light another cycle pulsating in the space between consumption and creation.