“Threads allow me to explore space, piling up layer after layer creates a surface like the night sky which gradually expands into the universe.”
— Chiharu Shiota
Sometimes referred to as “spider woman”, for her spectacular canvases and installations which she skilfully creates by weaving thread into impressive and magnificent web-like structures, Chiharu Shiota is an internationally acclaimed Japanese artist based in Berlin. Shiota draws inspiration from her intimate sphere, exploring themes that are deeply personal – such as identity, dreams, fears, loss, childhood memories.
“I make my art not as a kind of therapy for internal anxiety, since in my case the fear is necessary to actually make art. I create out of emotion. Everyone has a universe inside of them and I think it is our goal to connect our inner universe with the outside universe. This is something I try to make sense of with my work. I create to understand my emotions and myself and to connect with others.”
— Chiharu Shiota
Skin, an intricately composed piece from 2015, faithfully reproduces the texture of skin through the intertwinement of black thread on a white tondo canvas. This artwork is one of the many versions of homonymous similar works which derive from her long experience of contemplation and replication of different skin textures. The intersection of threads forms shapes that are never identical, exactly like in the irregular lines that expand across human skin and are visible upon close inspection of the epidermis, as well as the intricacy of veins which provide life to all living beings on earth.
Shiota was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1972 and currently lives in Berlin. She studied at Kyoto Seika University, at Universität der Künste Berlin and at Hochschule für Bildende Künste under Marina Abramovic. The Serbian artist played an important role during Shiota’s first formative years. Shiota represented Japan at the Venice Biennale in 2015. Her recent exhibitions include the solo show State of Being at Anna Schwartz Gallery in Melbourne (25 June – 23 July 2022), Across the River at Landesgalerie Niederösterreich in Krems, Austria (11 June – 15 January 2023), Carte Blanche à Chiharu Shiota at Musée Guimet in Paris (16 March – 6 June 2022).