White thread, shoes, metal frame sculpture

20 × 20 × 20 cm. 7 7/8 × 7 7/8 × 7 7/8 in.

Signed in English abbreviation on bottom right of the reverse
PROVENANCE
Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
Acquired directly by present important private Asian collector from the above

Intertwined By the Strings of Life, Composing A Complete Soul
Chiharu Shiota's Profound String Works

“Each string can be intertwined, torn apart and resolved. It collectively describes people's relationship, and gently reflects a part of my inner world.”

――Chiharu Shiota

In discussion of the most popular female Japanese artists there are, Shiota is unequivocally a celebrated and acclaimed artist in Contemporary Japanese Art market apart from significant artist such as Yayoi Kusama. There is an important academic and market study that can be read into with Shiota's oeuvre. Inspired by Poland artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, who was known for her textural-centric artworks, Shiota traveled to Germany for an intense study after her graduation from Kyoto Seika University in oil painting from a Fine Arts Degree. Followed by her detailed study of performance artists such as marina Abramovic and Rebecca Horn, Shiota began to weave her idiosyncratic voice in multi-medium artworks and performances. In 2015, Shiota represented Japan in the 56th Venice Biennale by displaying a large installation device constructed by interweaved red strings. Titled The Key in the Hand, the kinetic and emotive effect of the installation corresponded with viewers, and affirms her influential status as a performance and installation artist.

From a strand of black, red or white string, Shiota is able to command and weave each one in different angles to create a kaleidoscope of majestic scenery. Within the strands posit a personalized item hanging in space. Scrutinized in person, viewers are able to relate such item to their personal and emotive experiences. While the relationship between the item and the artist remains ambiguous, the artist implies a certain meaning and memory with every viewer who visits. Each string reaches beyond the interweaved and protrudes towards the exterior, casting endless possibility in building new and existing relationship with found objects between artist and viewer.

Leaping Red Shoe, Clear Traces of Life

"Red is the colour of blood, the body's interior; the black lines represent the universe, the depth of the night sky. When I use the white line in my work, it symbolizes purity, innocence and rebirth."

――Chiharu Shiota

In Chiharu Shiota's works, different thread colours connect different artistic expressions like thoughts, sharing her discussions about childhood, growth, life direction, life emotion and other aspects. In State of Being (Shoes) (Lot 42), a small red shoe is held up by a white line representing innocence and rebirth. In State of Being (Shoes), the presence of a pair of red shoes also hints the notion of absence, as the physical presence of someone's feet is missing from the shoes. Juxtaposed from delicate white strands, the deep-maroon shoes express visual significance from afar. As a pair of shoes, it correlates with an owner's identity and his or her narrative in those shoes. Every footstep in those shoes represents moment of the past, current and future. As an ordinary item, it has the ability to provoke early and integral memories – such as first day at nursery in sneakers with bowtie shoelaces, while holding a mother's hand, to experiencing first dates, to first job interview. The ambiguity of the shoes' owner invites viewers to insert their memories. Every item in Shiota's textural world is an invitation for the viewers to become an author of her work. While artworks of Shiota can be constructed in a site-specific environment, or at times in small container structure, the intended composition of the artwork propose a nurture and caring ambience. The emotive relationship between the strings and the item is evoked by the lack of absence in the presence, to which unveils joyful childhood memories and dialogues of the past.

Black Lines Condense and Guides the Way to the East

On the other hand, Railroad Signal (Lot 43) uses the railway symbol "E" as its unique and rare theme of expression. The densely interlaced black lines are as expressive as a black paintbrush, painting a deep night sky surrounding the metal directional marker, silently and solemnly guiding the direction. As an important symbol of railway direction in the last century, the simple and eye-catching railway letters are significant. In this work, the "East" represented by the character "E" is not only a general indication of the direction but also a symbol of the Eastern world in which we live. Although living in Germany, Chiharu Shiota thinks deeply about her own cultural genes and identity. Like the floating wooden boat in The Key in the Hand, she used the symbol of transportation to metaphorize the unceasing pace of the time and used the representative letters of the East to explore the direction of Oriental civilization. With the development of modern technology, symbols belonging to the collective memory of the railway era have gradually become relics of history. However, under the careful layers of Chiharu Shiota, they are firmly fixed in memory, like a light in the night, to arouse shared memories belonging to the East.

Price estimate:
HKD: 500,000 - 800,000
USD: 63,700 - 101,900

Auction Result:
HKD: --