Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.

Chiharu Shiota / Uncertain Journey 2016/2022 / Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022 / Metal frame, red wool / Dimensions variable / © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota / Uncertain Journey 2016/2022 / Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022 / Metal frame, red wool / Dimensions variable / © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Chloë Callistemon, QAGOMA.

Chiharu Shiota, Where Are We Going? 2017/2022; Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; White wool, wire, rope; Dimensions variable; © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota, Where Are We Going? 2017/2022; Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; White wool, wire, rope, Dimensions variable, © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Chloë Callistemon, QAGOMA.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

The largest and most comprehensive exhibition of work by renowned Japanese-born, Berlin-based artist, Chiharu Shiota, is currently on show at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Shiota’s compelling, immersive artworks draw on deeply personal emotions and experiences to give visual form to intangible concepts such as memories, anxiety, dreams and silence.

With a survey of more than a hundred works from almost thirty years of Shiota’s practice, the exhibition incorporates large-scale installations, sculpture, video performance, photography, drawing and set design.

Seven of the artist’s intricately woven red and black thread installations are on show, including A question of perspective 2022—a major new commission drawing on Shiota’s memories of Uluru, experienced on her first visit to Australia.

Chiharu Shiota, In Silence 2002/2022; Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; Burnt piano, burnt chairs, Alcantara black thread; Dimensions variable; Production support: Alcantara S.p.A.;  © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota, In Silence 2002/2022; Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; Burnt piano, burnt chairs, Alcantara black thread; Dimensions variable; Production support: Alcantara S.p.A.;  © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Chloë Callistemon, QAGOMA.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022. Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota, Reflection of Space and Time (detail) 2018; White dress, mirror, metal frame, Alcantara black thread, 280 × 300 × 400 cm, Commissioned by Alcantara S.p.A, Installation view: ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2019, © Chiharu Shiota. Photo: Sunhi Mang, courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022. Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota, Installation view of Inside – Outside 2009/2022; Old wooden windows, Dimensions variable; Installation view: ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022. Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota, A question of perspective 2022; Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; Polypropylene ropes, 80mg paper, found table and chair cable ties, staples; 500 x 810 x 1215cm; Commissioned 2022 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation; © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA.

Born in Osaka in 1972, Shiota enrolled at Kyoto Seika University to study painting in 1992. After a formative year at Canberra School of Art from 1993-94, she abandoned painting in favour of the expressive immediacy of performance and installation. She has since based her practice in Berlin from 1999, developing a practice of truly international reach.

“Shiota’s artistic practice is deeply personal, expressed through works with universal themes and ambitions. The exhibition title refers to the inexpressible stirrings of the heart, while the countless threads of the artist’s striking, room-filling installations allude to the complex connections that reach deep into our being,” says Reuben Keehan, Curator of Contemporary Asian Art at GOMA.

Highlights From the 56th Venice Art Biennale.

A selection of our favourite art installations from the 56th Venice Art Biennale. Yeah, no worries. You can thank us later.

Chiharu Shiota, Connecting Small Memories 2019; Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; Mixed media; Dimensions variable; © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Chloë Callistemon, QAGOMA.

Chiharu Shiota, Connecting Small Memories 2019 (detail); Installation view in ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022; Mixed media; Dimensions variable; © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Chloë Callistemon, QAGOMA.

Chiharu Shiota, Rebirth and Passing (detail) 2019; Mixed media, Dimensions variable © Chiharu Shiota; Photo: Sunhi Mang, courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

Chiharu Shiota, Accumulation – Searching for the Destination, 2014/2022; Suitcases, motors and red rope, Dimensions variable; Installation view: ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022, © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Chiharu Shiota, Accumulation – Searching for the Destination, 2014/2022; Suitcases, motors and red rope, Dimensions variable; Installation view: ‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2022, © Chiharu Shiota / Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Photo: Nick Hughes, Yellowtrace.

Highlights of the exhibition include Uncertain Journey 2016/2019—a series of boat forms interconnected by a vast membrane of red thread and In Silence 2002/2019—an installation featuring a burnt baby grand piano connected to rows of singed empty wooden seats by a complex environment of black thread.

“Moving her hands to create a three-dimensional drawing, Shiota gradually forms a surface from the lines of thread until they completely fill the space. Like prey caught in a spider’s web, we are instantaneously fascinated and bewitched by the extraordinary worlds created,” Keehan concludes.

Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles runs at GOMA through to 3rd of October. For more information, click here.

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Lately I've been noticing a whole heap of amazing installations that redefine spaces, utilising modest materials such as strings...

[Images courtesy of Yellowtrace and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. Photography credits as noted.]