PRESENTATION: Chiharu Shiota-Tracing Boundaries
The starting points for the majority of Chiharu Shiota’s installations are collections of used everyday objects that act as expressions of human acts. Complex networks of yarn are interlaced around and between the objects, linking their inherent narratives and creating a new visual plane, as if painting in mid-air, to explore the relationship between living and dying and to access memories found within these objects.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: EMMA Archive
The installation “Tracing Boundaries” by Chiharu Shiota transforms EMMA’s (Espoo Museum of Modern Art), open concrete gallery space into an immersive labyrinth of red yarn. The tangled red yarn generates “spaces within space”, a signature hallmark of Shiota’s art, inviting visitors on a journey into inner worlds and personal memories. Created especially for EMMA, “Tracing Boundaries” is an installation consisting of tangled webs of crisscrossing red string. Embedded in this maze are old doors that create pathways through the work. There is no right path or entrance to take – every visitor is free to follow the route of their choice. Shiota’s yarn installations are often based on the artist’s personal experiences and memories, but every visitor’s interpretations and experiences are an inseparable part of the work. Shiota describes the tautly stretched, knotted, tangled, and entwined threads as symbolizing the connections between people and the complexity of human relationships. As the artist says “With my installation I want to return to the origin as an artist. Recently I have been thinking about the meaning of exhibiting artworks in museums. When people visit a museum, they are often surprised and confused, especially when confronted with contemporary art, and they want to find meaning in the work they see. But I want them to remember a feeling that they have forgotten… There should be no explanation; the visitors should feel free to think whatever they want and try to find meaning within them. The visitor will search for meaning in the installation and resonances with other aspects of their life. Perhaps they will think that each door resembles a new opportunity, or the visitor might see all paths as being connected. Whatever they imagine, their thoughts and feelings are important. Because if their imagination would ever be completely disregarded, people would lose their humanity”. Using an intricate, self-styled weaving technique, Shiota has been creating yarn installations since her student days. She initially studied painting but found the canvas and paper too limiting. Searching for a more physical, holistic way to make art, she gradually began creating the immersive spatial works for which she is known today. Shiota has been in the international spotlight ever since she represented Japan at the 2015 Venice Biennale. She has exhibited in numerous museums around the world and at art biennials in Europe, South America, South-East Asia, and the Pacific region.
Photo: Chiharu Shiota, Tracing Boundaries, 2021. © Paula Virta / EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern art
Info: Curator: Arja Miller, EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art), Exhibition Centre WeeGee, Ahertajantie 5, Tapiola, Espoo, Finland, Duration: 27/10-27/11/2021, Days & Hours: Tue & Sat-Sun 11:00-17:00, Wed-Thu 11:00-19:00, Fri 11:00-21:00, https://emmamuseum.fi
