Blurring the line between fiction and reality
Warin Lab Contemporary presents “Inside Manga Bubbles”, an exhibition of hanging sculptures that blur the lines between fiction and reality, until March 18.
This is a solo exhibition by Japanese artist Eri Imamura reputed for her soft sculpture in the form of life-sized human torsos and her aesthetics of fibre art with a Native American beading technique on vintage kimono fabric.
She fuses manga in her art creations. For her, manga narratives and other science fiction stories can become reality in this digital era where the metaverse offers alternative bubbles to escape from our real-life frustrations.
The Tokyo-born artist got a bachelor’s degree majoring in textile arts from the Tokyo University of the Arts before she went to New Mexico, USA, where she trained in Amerindian beading artistry. She later earned an associate arts degree in indigenous studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, awarded with highest honours in 2007.
Specialised in Japanese weaving, dyeing techniques and Native American beadwork, she keeps textile and beading at the core of her artistic practice.
She transforms kimono textiles from apparel to three-dimensional soft sculptures with rich iconography that discourse with Japanese tattoo art, manga, science fiction and other forms of visual culture.
For this show, viewers will see numerous round mirrors on the walls as a backdrop for the installation of her hanging sculptures. The experience reflects the reality of our own image and ideas.
This kaleidoscopic bubble stages the challenge of environmental, spiritual and psychological issues that humanity is facing.
Her art mirrors the fate of modern urban societies entrapped in materialism and the deep aspiration of her contemporaries to reconnect spiritually with nature. Her work is collected across continents, from America to Asia.
Warin Lab Contemporary is located at OP Garden, Charoen Krung 36, and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am to 7.30pm.