Chiharu Shiota

Second Skin, Photoengraving, Contemporary Art, 21st Century, Japanese Art

2014

Chiharu Shiota has gained renown for her distinctive site-specific installations, wherein she intricately weaves expansive webs using black, white, or red yarn, transforming entire galleries into intricate and labyrinthine environments. Her awe-inspiring creations serve as poignant reflections on themes such as anxiety, identity, loss, and memory. One of her remarkable installations, "The Key in the Hand," showcased at the 2015 Venice Biennale, encapsulated her representation of Japan with over 50,000 keys suspended from a sprawling web of red thread above two wooden boats. Among her other noteworthy works is "Lost Words" (2017), where Shiota suspended thousands of torn Bible pages in 100 different languages within Berlin’s oldest church. Additionally, "Counting Memories" (2019) featured paper numbers adorning ethereal clouds of dark thread. Shiota's artistic prowess has graced prestigious venues, including exhibitions at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and the SCAD Museum of Art. Beyond her renowned installations, she extends her artistic repertoire to encompass paintings, photography, video works, drawings, and sculptures, some of which have fetched six-figure prices in the art market.