Textural Space

Machiko Agano

Archive Exhibitions (28 April to 23 June 2001)
"We Japanese sometimes say that there is something mysterious, an invisible force in nature. I feel this is so, I try to show this invisible, all encompassing force through my work. I would like viewer to feel enveloped by the mysteries of nature when they see my work." Machiko Agano
Agano created a stunning installation by combining nylon filament, silk thread and handmade Japanese paper. A work of painstaking craftsmanship, realised with knitting techniques and 15mm thick needles, this untitled installation defied the easy categorisation of mere ‘textile art’ by exploring the 3D potentials – and the evocative powers – of light, shade and texture in a gallery space.

A net of intricate beauty suspended in mid-air was the resulting environment throughout which visitors could meander while being encouraged to touch and feel the texture they were confronted and surrounded with. Agano’s work, with its mesmerising forms, acted as a landscape reflecting nature and its wonders. Gentle and delicate yet powerful and taut, it had the power of evoking at once the resplendent Alps and the shimmering oceans, the passing clouds and the elaborate web of a skilled spider. As a membrane of suspended beauty it enveloped the visitors and induced calmness through its ethereal shapes.

About The Artist

Agano Machiko was born in 1953 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. In 1979 he completed a Post Graduate Course at Kyoto University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan. In 1995 became a Professor at the Faculty of Art, Kyoto Seika University, Japan. In 2006 he won the Kyoto Art and Culture Prize.

Textural Space 3
Textural space 2
Textural space 1

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