Ghost I met

2013

Multicolor Weaving “EPOTEX”

330 x 385 cm (installation), 330 x 190cm (each), set of two

Production support: Kawashima Selkon

Exhibited at

Ghost – Suspended Organs Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany (2013) 

Ghost – Suspended Organs 

Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany (2013)

STOFF Summlung Textile Skulpturen 

Kreissparkasse Rottweil, Germany (2013) 

Rewoven

Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin, Germany (2013) 

Artist File 2015 Next Doors

The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan (2015) 

Artist File 2015 Next Doors

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea (2015-16)

Ghost I met

Layer description

 

Images featured on the left panel: Japan
Background
Stand cover, silk with patterns of flowering trees, loins and human figures (Shōsō-in temple, Japan, 8C)
Embroidery on silk, Tenjukoku (Heavenly Paradise) scene (Chugu-ji temple, Japan, 7C)
Stand cover, silk with kyokechi-dyed designs of flowering trees and paired-birds (Shōsō-in temple, Japan, 8C)
Nishiki (brocade) with archers chasing lions (Hōryū-ji temple, Japan, 7C)
Ghost
Suigetsu-Kannon (Buddha statue) (Tōkei-ji temple, Japan, 13C)
Kimono of Maiko, which refers to a dancing girl, an apprentice geisha (Japan, 20C)
Kimono (Japan, Taishō era; 1912-1926)
Kyōgen (traditional Japanese comic theater) costume (Japan, 20C)
Noh (classical Japanese musical drama) costume (Japan, 20C)
Oiran (courtesan) costume (Japan, Edo era; 1600-1867)
Farmer’s trousers (Japan, 19C)
Silk shoes with nishiki (brocade), and silk with embroidered flowers (Shōsō-in temple, Japan, 8C)

Images featured on the right panel: West
Background
Tunic, Coptic textile (Egypt, 7C)
Tunic with flower ornaments, Coptic textile (Egypt, 9-10C)
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with Virtues, Gobelin (England, 17C)
David and Bathsheba, Gobelin (England, 17C)
The Finding of Moses, embroidery (England, 17C)
Border bobbin lace (Italy, 17C)
Book of Durrow, carpet page, Celtic pattern (Ireland, 7C)
Ghost
Louis XIV, Hyacinthe Rigaud (France, 1701)
Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, Praxiteles (ancient Greece, Unknown)
The moneychanger and his wife, Marinus van Reymerswaele (Spain, 1539)
Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italy, 17C)
Dress, muslin with silk embroidery (probably India for the Western market, 1800)
Dress, silk with warp-and weft-float patterning (France, 1775)
Tennis dress, cotton (England, 1885)

The work consists of two large panels, and a translucent large ghost is standing in the centre of the two panels. All the motifs on the left panel are inspired by Japanese cultural references such as ancient embroidery in the 7th century, fabrics and silk shoes in the 8th century, a Buddha statue in the 13th century, Kimonos in the 17th – 20th century and daily-use clothing in the 19th century. On the other hand, all the motifs on the right panel are inspired by European culture such as ancient Greek statues, ancient Coptic clothing in the 7-10th century, Celtic patterns in the 7th century, paintings in France and Spain in the 16-18th century, Italian lace in the 17th century, English embroidery in the 17th century, Italian sculptures in the 17th century, women’s dresses in the 18-19th century. Motifs found both on the left and right are collected according to their similarities. The varying motifs create many layers and they can be found all across the fabric as the layers are juxtaposed. The translucent ghost is perhaps my self-portrait who is torn between Japan and Europe. When I made this work I was facing the difference between Japanese and European cultures. Gradually, I felt that I could no longer say that I was “pure” Japanese because I grew unable to articulate what “pure” Japan is like. “Japan” has been changing, increasingly “Europeanized” and “Americanized”, perhaps more rapidly than when I was born. Therefore, projecting myself onto the ghost, the translucent ghost appears between the layers.

Photo by

Lepkowski Studios, Berlin / Ute Klein / Kai Magnusson