Yoshio Kitayama/ Naomi Kobayashi

I discovered Yoshio Kitayama's work, in a book I am currently reading; 'Soft Sculpture and Beyond', 1993, Gordon and Breach, Switzerland. The Japanese artist, born in 1948, uses materials such as wood, copper, steel and bamboo to create his fragile constructions, which using fisherman's wire, he hangs from a space's ceiling, to create 'centres of energy'. His constructions are really delicate and due to his choice of materials, alludes to his Japanese heritage. I feel quite inspired by his work, About What Happened, 1991, which is a work comprised of several large box shapes, stacked together. The boxes are made by griding the bamboo, wood and paper, which creates a net style framework, which the thin paper is delicately attached to. Unfortunately I was unable to find any photos of his work, but I thought a note should be taken anyway!

I was also intrigued with the fibre artist, Naomi Kobayashi's geometrical forms, which are created by bundling, grouping and layering soft, fibrous material. However, the final forms seem very rigid and solid.

Kobayashi's ring series stood out to me especially as she had glued thread around horizontal circles, to form huge rings, sometimes up to 6metres in diameter. The artist usually leaves one or two gaps in the frame allowing the thread to droop in that section, giving the overall ring a softer accent.

'Like a poet, I wish to chant the vast cosmos of eternity, using fragile threads, instead of words and phrases. This is the basic concept of my works'.

I liked her work, obviously because it deals with fibrous material, which I am hoping to include more in my work, but also because it has quite a natural, delicate element, similar to Kitayama's work.