Welcome to the 20th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode we’ll be entangled in a universe Chiharu Shiota has spun, filled with sentiment, dexterity and performance art.
Chiharu Shiota is a Japanese artist stringing together 3D environments to confront ideals of human existence and thought. For the last twenty years, Shiota alongside few assistants have been creating eccentric structures by hand, choosing thread as their muse. Common items like briefcases, paper or keys frequently appear in her work both personifying and speaking to greaters premises.
Born in Osaka, Japan (1972), Shiota exploits the y axis to liberate and express, refusing any sense of compliance towards a traditional plane. Her structures formidable yet inviting, she demonstrates a great yearn for both inner and outer emotional apprehension, each work of art resonating deep within. Through use of colour she represents her current feeling, from weave pattern to objects involved, she constitutes a different perspective, thought or attribute.
Symbolism is deeply ingrained into the work of Chiharu Shiota. Whites signify hope, red as the blood of arteries; life, and black; that of the universe, death, suffering. Keys hang from ceilings and shoes sit atop stages, all to encapsulate the viewer into a universe of her own, to emphasize an indescribable feeling into a physical setting. Ironically, her field of education pertains to conventional art forms like painting, recounting an ode to stagnance during her studies. After a dream in which she was stuck inside an oil painting, she cited this as the turning point in her artistic career.
From here Shiota pursued her interest in the finite details of human order; life, death, that of which lies in between. She questioned without remorse and displayed elegant work, tirelessly producing alluring exhibits.
The truth of her work is displayed through interpersonal connection and contrasting isolation, the focus on one’s authentic self. By distilling her own emotions, she forces an audience to follow, pushing depth in the contemporary world of shallows.
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