Panel twelve - Selected by Mirena NOUDOMI
Curator Comment by Mirena NOUDOMI about “Contemporary” by Ayaka SHIGEMURA
What do you think of when you hear the word "connections"? I think most people think of connections, continuity, communication and relationships. Especially in the current situation of COVID-19. The title of this work is "Contemporary" and it focuses on the connections between people today.
The artist, SHIGEMURA Ayaka, described "connections" as feeling like an invisible handshake. The sub-theme of this work is "karma". Inspired by the trees that grow in her parents' garden, this work is a reminder that, like the roots of a tree that take root widely in the ground, once a connection is made, it is not easy to break, and no matter how far apart we are, we remember and are connected somewhere.
The soft impression of the paint applied layer upon layer as if it were rising, and the intricately twisted and intertwined shapes are powerful and give a sense of the resilience of life. Now that our superficial connections with people have been severed, there are days when we feel helplessly alone. This work softly envelops that sense of loneliness and gently supports our backs, telling us that we are not alone, and that our past relationships have not disappeared.
Curator Comment by Mirena NOUDOMI about “Purple Thread” by Milly TYLER
Connection is not just about what we can see. Artist Milly Tyler's work focuses on the physical connections between textile fibres in her field of study, as well as the emotional and relational connections between friends and family.
The concept of the piece is "about the connection between memories and personal items. It is about how sentimental belongings can create emotions and memories of a person or a time.＂said the artist.
The work consists of yarns from a scarf knitted by the artist's late grandmother and drawings inspired by the fibres, which have been reproduced and reversed to create a single work.
We can see how the visible physical thread and the invisible visualisation of the artist's emotional memories are connected to form a textile fibre, the 'Purple Thread', to create a scarf that is dear to the artist.