Saturday 13 June 2009

Cultex in Norway




This exhibition, curated by Lesley Millar, brought together three partnerships of textile artists from Norway and Japan. Machiko Agano worked with Anniken Amundsen, Yuka Kawai and Eva Schjolberg collaborated and Kiyonori Shimada and Gabriella Goransson worked together. Each artist exhibited their own work and then produced a collaborative piece with their partner.

Machiko Agano produced free hanging shapes cut from photographs of items related to the everyday life around her in Japan. These were mirror coated on one side which produced distorted reflections and worked very well in combination with Anniken Amundsen’s woven ‘creatures’ when they were displayed together in a greenhouse in the museum grounds. I found this the most successful collaboration because the works enhanced each other.

Yuka Kawai had produced beautifully delicate cylindrical woven pieces that hung from ceiling to floor. These were complemented by the paper cylinders of Eva Schjolberg and her twisted spiral forms in the grounds of the museum.

Kiyonori Shimada had transformed an area of the museum by installing walls of white nylon fabric that rustled as the viewer walked past, completely changing the atmosphere of the room. As you emerged from the tunnel of fabric you were led into a room containing Gabriella Goransson’s net-like basket forms made from linen fibre. The contrast highlighted both works. From the window it was also possible to see Gabriella’s pod forms nestling in a large tree in the museum grounds.

The Norwegian venue was gallery F15 in Moss; the exhibition will also tour to Japan and the UK. The artists and curator have produced a blog of their experience of working together at http://www.cultex.org/.

No comments: