Chiharu Shiota - Open Journey (2020)

Open Journey (2020) Artist: Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972) Date: 2020 Medium: Pastel, watercolour and thread on paper Dimensions: 30.5 × 37.5 cm Edition: Unique Signature: Signed with artist's initials "CS." lower left Origin : Executed in Germany Frame: Framed (as shown) Description: Open Journey is a quietly extraordinary work on paper by Chiharu Shiota — the Berlin-based Japanese artist whose monumental thread installations have made her one of the most internationally celebrated artists of her generation, and whose works on paper reveal the same obsessions at an intimate scale. A dark, boat-like form rendered in ink and wash — dense, weighted, almost fossilised — floats above an expanding crimson grid of pastel and watercolour lines that fan outward across the white sheet like a net, a web, or the shadow of a vast structure just out of frame. Three fine red threads cross the surface of the dark form, pinned or sewn into it with a precision that is both surgical and tender. The thread — Shiota's most personal material, the filament that runs through her entire practice from installation to drawing — here appears not as architectural mass but as a barely-there intervention: three lines of crimson against black, the minimum necessary to assert connection, entanglement, the impossibility of true departure. The title Open Journey holds the tension the image creates: the vessel is present but motionless, the grid suggests both structure and freedom, and the threads tie it — or tie us — to something we cannot fully see. Executed in Germany — where Shiota has been based since the 1990s and where she developed the practice that brought her to international prominence, culminating in her representation of Japan at the 2015 Venice Biennale — this small-format work on paper demonstrates the full emotional and conceptual range of her practice in a format available to private collectors. Signed with the artist's initials lower left and presented framed, Open Journey is a rare opportunity to acquire an original work on paper by one of the most significant artists working today. Shipping & Delivery: ✔ Worldwide shipping from France ✔ Professional packaging with insurance ✔ Tracking number included for secure delivery, Work delivered with certificate of authenticity FAQ Is this an original Chiharu Shiota work? Yes — Open Journey is a unique original work on paper combining pastel, watercolour, and thread, signed with the artist's initials. There is only one. Who is Chiharu Shiota? Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972, Osaka) is a Japanese artist based in Berlin, internationally renowned for her large-scale thread installations. She represented Japan at the 2015 Venice Biennale and has exhibited at major institutions worldwide including the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, and the Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania. What makes the use of thread significant? Thread is Shiota's primary material across all scales of her practice — from room-filling installations to works on paper. Its presence here, as three fine lines traversing the dark form, carries the same conceptual weight as her architectural installations: connection, memory, entanglement, and the fragility of human bonds. Is the work framed? Yes — framed, 30.5 × 37.5 cm overall. Do you ship internationally? Yes — worldwide, with museum-grade packaging for framed works on paper, full insurance, and shipment tracking. ➡️ Contact us for any questions