Chiharu Shiota - Lifelines

Beyond Memory (Além da Memória) is a spatial, ephemeral creation, where Chiharu Shiota's woven threads explore the dialog between the structure and the architectural space around it.

The artist chose the color white for this work because it symbolizes purity, a beginning, a starting point. White sheets of paper have been inserted into the installation to allow scope for the visitors' own individual narratives.

The spectators are invited to explore the narrative potential of a work that was built as an open, seductive web where new ties are encouraged.

Essentially autobiographical, many of her works and installations are ephemeral, reflecting the transitory nature of our own life cycles.

Our personal stories are steeped in memories, just like our articles of clothing, which, from Shiota's perspective, are like a second skin, bearing the traces and remnants of the human experience.

In her work State of Being (Dress), clothing is part of the monumental sculpture that is enveloped in a thick woolen mesh, like the maze of human existence or a tangled mass around a being that does not exist.

The room contains a collection of pieces that enable visitors to explore the idea of identity, memory, body, fragility, and illness, all of which are interlinked as if in the artist's own life story.

While still a student, Chiharu Shiota had an identity crisis. She felt as if her life and work were not connected in the way she wanted them to be and so she gave up painting.

The work Red Line (Linha Vermelha) is a painting in red, where the emphasis is on the artist's hands and their movement. In revealing her subjective gestures in a pictorial form, Chiharu offers a reflection on the act of manual creation.

Chiharu invites visitors to explore the idea of identity, memory, and fragility. All these themes are expressed through the artist's own body in an autobiographical tale.

In the video Earth and Blood (Terra e Sangue), Chiharu is the leading actor in an ad-lib piece where, in an intimate setting with no audience participation, she interacts with metaphorical themes of life and death.

This series replicates body organs made of glass. In her choice of material, she points to the fragility of the human body and its predisposition to illness, those infections which, while not always visible, influence human existence.

Primarily, Chiharu makes use of everyday materials and activities—such as lines and weaving, which are often assigned to the female domain—but she uses them in a monumental and visceral way.

According to a Japanese myth, a thread is tied to a child's finger when they are born. As the child goes through life interacting with other people, this thread will become entwined with others, creating an invisible mesh of relationships.

Chiharu's works deal with the idea of a universal connection between all beings in a more abstract way. She has the gift of being able to convert her own experience into a sublime artistic form.

The installation The Key in the Hand (A Chave na Mão) was designed for the Venice Biennale in 2015 when Chiharu represented her country in the Japanese Pavilion. The installation consists of two boats resembling two receptive hands.

An international campaign for the installation led to 180,000 keys being collected. For Shiota, keys are associated with those personal memories that live with us in our daily lives.

The abstract geometry in the State of Being sculptures allude to a simplification of form, without it being confined to a predefined narrative. The shapes hint at a strangely honed stone.

On display here is a group of works dealing with the idea of a universal connection between all beings. When dealing with themes such as death, she expresses reality through a more accessible poetic language.

This series of engravings shows a being connected to the universe by a thread, which may symbolize an umbilical cord. Our connection to the outside world takes place through imaginary and spiritual channels.

Our human condition forces us to seek a destiny. The boats may be seen here as carrying our hopes and dreams as they take us on a journey that is full of uncertainty and wonder.

According to Chiharu: "People believe that death is our final destiny, but there is no end. Time is a circular construct and, when we die, our consciousness transcends into another dimension."