Yumiko Chiba Associates is delighted to present an exhibition of new work by artist Motohiro Tomii, who explores the potential of sculpture through works crafted predominantly from readymade products and household wares, with the minimum of intervention, and employing clearly-articulated compositional techniques.
This exhibition represents a further development on the sculptural works based on garment patterns drawn by designers from the fashion label tac:tac and presented by Tomii at void+ in 2018. In this new work, rather than using readymade or other objects, Tomii creates sculptures solely by superimposing his own lines, so to speak, on patterns drawn by others, in a contemplation of the point at which clothing design, in which drawing "lines" on a two-dimensional plane, otherwise known as a pattern, gives rise to the three-dimensional form of a garment; and sculpture as solid, overlap (or not), and simultaneously an interrogation through the "drawing of lines" of the relationship between two-dimensional painting and three-dimensional sculpture. At the same time the intersection of clothing and sculpture also suggests that both are forms of expression powerfully constrained by the human body. Consequently, Tomii's act of "superimposing lines" in sculpture serves as an attempt to literally draw over and redraw the lines between clothing, sculpture, and painting, or between plane and solid, in a novel exploration of sculpture that is certain to intrigue.
In 2018, I staged a show with the title Borrowed lines, and this exhibition is a sequel to that one. It originally began when I was sketching/copying a tree, and had a vision of transferring an existing thing to another way of being, but in the same state; simultaneously preserving "copy = receive a way of being" and "transfer = explore a different way of being." Meaning not to leave behind what was hitherto there, but retain it on an equal basis, as a potential state. The idea has been to fashion something as a method of conducting that experiment, of contemplation. While pondering how to go about this, I met Takaaki Shimase and Kota Shimamura, designer and patterner respectively for fashion label tac:tac.
For the 2018 show I borrowed a coat pattern/lines, and "transferred" those lines to a sculpture, scaling the pattern pieces to suit. Though by my own reckoning this was successful to a degree, something seemed not quite right, which is why I planned this latest exhibition. Basically, I employ the same approach, except where described below. The aim is not to show what I have changed, but to change what comes into sight from the work.
To make a sculpture using sewing patterns I will extract an arm, torso and leg from patterns used in the 2021 autumn/winter collection of fashion label tac:tac, cut these from 20mm acrylic, and assemble them one on top of another. The work consists of two pieces: a combination of arm - torso - leg from the top down, and one in reverse order (ie upside down). The work also involves experimenting with dyeing sheet acrylic (I am currently exploring green, in addition to blue, which was successful last time). Dye, that is, not paint.
An implement known as an armature stand, a support for standing clay pieces used in sculpture (modeling human figures) is also presented as part of the work, thus encompassing the fact that the work cannot stand by itself, but is supported by something.
For the pattern size I will employ the actual size, having the pair from tac:tac choose a pattern after explaining to them the plan above. An image will thus be fashioned from the disjoint between the imaginings of tac:tac, and my own, integrating them while not leaning any more toward one than the other, thus giving shape to something that does not come together of its own accord.
I chose "Superimposed lines" for the title of this exhibition. The borrowing of the source lines/pattern from clothing is the same, but this time rather than transferring those lines to the side of sculpture, I would like to stop them just this side of it. The idea is to superimpose other thoughts on the thoughts harbored by the pattern/lines, to see what overlaps, and what does not. Having done so, the question is, can one actively find interest in that which does not?
Motohiro Tomii
Press release courtesy Yumiko Chiba Associates.
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