Interview With A Necrosarium

I had the pleasure of doing a special interview with Kasumi, founder and artist behind Necrosarium! 

Q&A with Kasumi:

1) What was the inspiration behind Necrosarium? From what I discovered on your Facebook, you initially had a “cute” brand when you were younger, could you talk a bit about that and how your craft morphed into what it is today with the darker Goth/Lolita/Visual Kei theme?

-I did have a cute brand when I was 16 years old, I was really into the style and I really wanted to dress so cute always. Unfortunately, I had no money to do it, so I tried to make cute jewelry at least to wear. I did feel that there was a huge limit to my cute creations though. I didn’t feel that I had much creativity in my pieces. They were cute, but they were lacking something. I didn’t make the cute jewelry very long. I always loved dark fashions since I was very young, and I wanted to try my hand at it. Dir en Grey was my very first inspiration to get into the Gothic, Lolita, and Visual Kei fashion. Even their current style, and especially music, are my biggest inspirations. I also gain inspiration from Takato Yamamoto’s art. I felt that I could be more creative with darker styles, so I pursued it when I was 18 years old.

2) Your shop and Facebook have quite the following, which is understandable as you have quite beautiful and unique pieces, and your repertoire is always growing. What would you like to work on in the future (ex: jewelry you’ve never made before, clothes, other artistic avenues) and where do you see the future of Necrosarium heading?

-Thank you so much~ In the future, I want NECROSARIUM to be much bigger, of course; I want to sell at Anime conventions very much! It is my dream. I love to travel, and when I attend a convention, everyone is so kind and happy. It feels like another home. I want to travel many places and meet my fans, they make me so happy! Also, I am still fairly new to creating jewelry and designs, but I grow each day. I want to create some more sewn accessories…perhaps clothing one day, but I think I would need to have help to keep that up, as I work alone. I just hope to create as much as I can~

3) Up to this point, which piece has been your absolute favorite to make and why?

-At this point, I would say my favorite piece to create right now is my Vampire’s Requiem collar necklaces! It is a very bold necklace, and I have upgraded the design this year. It is one of my favorite pieces that I can always create~

4) You have garnered the attention of quite a few in the Visual Kei scene. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?

-It is very hard to say who I wish to work with, there are so many talented artists that I would love to work with! I have worked with some artists, such as the lovely model Artemis Hyde, the amazing makeup artist PureBlackLove, and some bands such as Pan-d-ra, HimemaniK, Jet Set Gypsies, and have been featured on others! I have some upcoming collaborations with other bands as well, I will reveal them soon as it is in progress, but I can say that you will be seeing a lot of work with Jet Set Gypsies! ^o^

5) You have made well known your love for astronomy, what was it that drew you to what lies beyond, and can we expect some pieces in Necrosarium to tie into this passion in the future?

-My love for Astronomy is endless. It is one of my biggest passions, I have been studying Astronomy since I was around 5 or 6 years old, I was naturally drawn to it, as well as Paleontology, and I had a microscope! I can’t say that we will see any pieces in NECROSARIUM to be inspired by Astronomy, though. I keep them separate. Of course, you can always see me talking about it, and sharing anything interesting! I may have a smaller brand in the future that is science-based on the side. I want to grow my own crystals, use images from my telescope, microscope, and more, and also use meteorites and fossils in jewelry! It will be kinda far in the future though~

6) With the end of the year rapidly approaching and chalk full of holidays, what would you say were the highlights of 2013, and what are your plans and resolutions (personal and/or Necrosarium related) for 2014?

-I think this year was great. In the beginning of the year I started selling with Tetragrammaton, based in Tokyo! They really helped me with my confidence in selling, and was a great support for me to keep going! They are closed now, but will forever be special to me. Also getting to work with Pan-d-ra, I see them wear my jewelry in so many photos! It is very encouraging! I also got to see my work featured in HimemaniK’s new PV! That was super awesome! I think I got so much better with designs this year as well. I used too much bronze in the beginning, but now I use black, brown, dark red, blue, silver, etc. My designs have also become more intricate. My resolutions for 2014 are to work harder! Right now I feel behind, I guess holding up a brand by myself can get stressful, but I am getting better at it. I think I just need much more supplies so that I can work on many things! My personal life revolves around NECROSARIUM, so I think it’s the same, I also want to feel happier and make others happy.

7) On that note, would you say something for your fans and supporters out there?

-I want to say thank you so much! NECROSARIUM has turned 2 years old this month, and I already have so many supporting fans who just make me so happy! I also want to say, if you ever need someone to talk to, or if you need someone to cheer you up, I am here! I want to make friends with my fans and make them happy, I want them to know that I am always here for them just like they are here for me! ^o^

8)From talking to you on a personal level, you’re such a sweet and kind person! I absolutely wish you major success in the future and thank you so much for this interview!

Ohh thank you so much, you are so awesome~ The interview was very fun and I wish you all of my luck as well!

***I would like to again thank Kasumi so much for everything she's done for me, from providing jewelry for my  first panel's fashion show, doing this interview, and being a great friend! I hope that one day if I get a substantial amount of readers that they will visit her store and show it lots of love and support! (Click the banner in the right column to head to her shop!)

Sincerely,

Rave <3