Chiharu Shiota’s Woven Works Explore Life After the Body

The Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing is currently showcasing “Silent Emptiness,” a significant solo exhibition by artist Chiharu Shiota who resides in Berlin. This exhibition, curated by Yan Shijie, represents a pivotal point in her artistic journey as it delves deeper into her primary theme of “presence in absence.” Utilizing a variety of newly created installations, Shiota skillfully expresses the immaterial using a divine and fibrous vocabulary. Her work explores enlightenment principles from Eastern philosophy while directly addressing life and death.

In “Metamorphosis of Consciousness,” emptiness is envisioned as delicate, feathery drapes adorned with lights. Taking cues from the dream-like philosophy of Chinese thinker Zhuangzi, who dreamt he was a butterfly, this installation embodies a tranquil sense of metamorphosis and harmony between physical form and awareness. The artist remarked that every time we fall asleep, it mirrors death – a voyage beyond the corporeal self.

A remarkable artwork titled “Gateway to Silence” features a traditional Tibetan Buddhist doorway adorned with a complex pattern of red threads, woven by the artist using her preferred medium. The thread acts as both a bond and a mark of separation, questioning the boundaries between matter, spirit, and time in our existence.

In this setting, Shiota encourages viewers to ponder on what persists following the body‘s decay – a query, maybe, concerning memory’s eventual resurfacing. By artistically manipulating fiber and light, Shiota traces time’s unseen rivers, leading us to wonder: “Absence doesn’t imply disappearance but rather merging into a broader cosmos, re-entering the stream of time and forging fresh links with all things.

Silent Emptiness is now on view at the Red Brick Art Museum through August 31.

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