JOURNALS

Kiyonori Shimada[by email to Gabriella Göransson]

Dear Gabriella,

We have already exchanged a number of photographs of our works, these photographs were of the works in their entirety and from them we have been able to discover some common characteristics in our work, namely transfiguration and accumulation of material. I'm very interested in your work and I would very much like to see the works for myself however that will not be possible in the near future.

When I saw these two images, I felt as if I had dived into the ocean. An ocean that is not like the sea as we know it today but a deep, primitive ocean. The space is incredibly light and clear. Primitive life forms seem to float in the deep space. Even though the shapes are simple, they have a strong life force. Unicellular organisms and multicellular organisms are carefully gathering up the chromosomes which will become the source of evolution in their bodies.

Gabriella's work conveyed to me a sense of "primitive biosis," "ancient ocean" "past, present and future". These concepts are ones that we hold in common in our work.

When it comes to textile works, I feel that the sensation of the material is extremely important. The expression of the whole piece is constructed from the accumulation of the wonderful material which forms the parts.

I'll send you an e-mail six or seven times between now and August, attaching some photographs of my works and some simple comments. I would like to show them to you in chronological order starting with the older works. Please feel free to write what you think about my works. And I will tell you what I felt about the photographs of the works that you send me.

This piece was created when I was in my first year as a graduate student. First of all, I dyed the cotton cloth in about 20 different bright colours, then I cut it into 10cm wide strips. Next, I stitched cloth together by machine into a shape that would fit the gallery wall, the colours were stitched together at random to make the complete work.

The building which houses the gallery (“GalleryGallery”) is an extremely old building called the Kotobuki building. Contemplating the connection between the work and the gallery space, I decided to create a white working space by the loss (fading) of the colours.

The installation brings together the space and the work.

Building - this building which had once been new and modern had become old through the passage of time; one room has been made into a white gallery space.

Work - the brightly coloured fabric was faded deliberately turning it white.

At a glance this work looks white but if you look carefully you can see many pale colours. If you could separate the gills with your hands and look inside, you would still probably be able to see the remains of the colours. On the surface it appears to be a uniform colour but if you take a look inside it holds a completely different history and meaning.

best regards,
Kiyonori Shimada, June 2008