Mention the term "sculpture" and our minds will immediately conjure up images of solid structures crafted from heavy materials like marble or stone, firmly anchored to their plinths. However, when considering Kaori Kato's work, this word sheds its material connotations.
Stepping into the barn at Messums Wiltshire, in Tilbury, UK, you're greeted by a series of pedestals displaying Kaori Kato's paper sculptures, part of her exhibition "Unfolding, Unfurling"; delicately suspended from the ceiling, their ethereal forms look engaged in a graceful dance.
Hailing from the town of Obihiro in Hokkaido, the northernmost region of Japan, Kato draws her primary inspirations from her childhood experiences, but also from the historical use of paper and folding in Japanese aesthetics as seen in Shoji screens, folding screens, and fans.
While she was always passionate about origami, she turned it into the foundation of her practice while studying in Melbourne, Australia. A pivotal moment came when she visited the National Gallery of Victoria and encountered a temporary exhibition by Australian based Japanese fashion designer Akira Isogawa.
Within the exhibition space, numerous folded paper patterns were displayed, offering a glimpse into the production process of his fashion creations. This experience left an indelible mark on Kato.
Since then Kato embarked on crafting origami-based pieces, starting with smaller ones and eventually expanding into wearable paper sculptures. Her works graced the runways at the S/S 19 Vancouver Fashion Week and the S/S 20 Western Canada Fashion Week in Edmonton, in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The folds within her creations mirror her creative journey: to Kato, a blank sheet of paper serves as a vessel for discovering uncharted worlds and, just as life's encounters, conflicts, and trials weave together to shape one's personality, each crease and fold on the paper contributes to create her art.
Over time, Kato transitioned to crafting larger, nearly monumental pieces, some standing at 2.7 meters tall, alongside venturing into outdoor installations.
Her journey with materials evolved as well, progressing from a preference for white paper to embracing black, red, and the entire spectrum of colors.
Kato's raison d'être emerged: in interviews and statements she often talks about "ARTS" in connection with her pieces, where A stands for Adding, R for Romance, T for To, and S for Society. Art, for her, is indeed a lifelong endeavor filled with play, contemplation, exploration, and ambition.
There’s no strict formula to Kato's artistic process, but before embarking on a sculpture, she establishes a tactile connection with the paper.
Her favorite theme appears to be expansion: her smaller folded sculptures occupy limited space, but when unfolded, they unfurl like wings, exposing their beauty through intricate pleats. Kato injects life into her accordion-like structures that, when displayed in exhibition spaces, seem to possess an autonomous spirit.
At Messums Wiltshire, Kato filled the barn gallery with a site-specific installation. As an artist-in-residence at the cultural institution for a brief period, she made work responding to the interior of the 13th century tithe barn, integrating her paper sculptures within the space.
Through paper-folding, she created geometric patterns and organic three-dimensional shapes that hang from the ceiling, unfold on the floor, rhythmically dance on the plinths, elegantly curl along the walls or spill in from the windows like mysterious creatures.
Her contemporary approach revitalizes the history and significance of this art form and of this space, infusing both with new energy.
In these three-dimensinal works you can see the influence of architecture, but also of fashion with references to the late Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, and his construction concepts and expanding creations from his "Pleats Please" collections.
The artworks (on display until September 18) vividly demonstrate the boundless potential of this humble material and the event is actually part of a wider program, a "paper season" that will unfold (pun intended...) in the next few months and that will be dedicated to artists working with this material and producing prints, drawings, sculptures, and installations.
Apart from Kaori Kato, the program includes Becky Allen, Purdey Fitzherbert, Alice von Maltzahn, Emilie Pugh, Daniel Agdag and Peter Godwin; all of them offer a novel vocabulary within modern artistic expression, eloquently articulated through the medium of paper.
Image credits for this post
All images courtesy of Messums Wiltshire, UK
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