The shapes in the air

Kayo Miyashita

Kayo Miyashita1

我們不是說,每個人每樣東西都有他的位置?而有些比較無法言喻,只能用感官解答。流動的風、光、海水、天空、雨,這些自然現象,在宮下香代的眼裡都有顏色和形狀。

Isn’t there a saying that everyone and everything holds its unique significance? We have our senses to comprehend the intangible things around us. In the eyes of Kayo Miyashita, natural phenomena such as wind, light, water, the sky, and rain, all hold their own unique colors and shapes.

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「看雨、雲或月亮時,會覺得好像是一樣的吧,但它的形態就是會緩緩地改變。」

名古屋出生的紙作家宮下香代,自1995年起開始發布作品,擅長以和紙創作,會加入鐵線塑形,製成紙雕塑或風鈴吊飾。雖是雕塑,卻都要軟和脆弱。

“When you look at the clouds, the moon or the rain, they always appear the same. However, their forms are actually slowly changing.”

Debuting her first artwork in 1995, the Nagoya-born paper artist Kayo Miyashita specializes in making paper sculptures and hanging mobiles by using washi (traditional Japanese paper) and metal wires. Despite the sculpture’s properties, the works look fragile and tender.

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她愛和紙的纖維質感紋理,看起來帶通透卻有韌勁,能夠微微彎曲表現溫潤質感,也能夠依靠鐵線彎伸出另一些複雜的姿態。就像個肌肉柔軟的舞者。「我很有興趣去改變形狀的印象。」人對很多事物的既定印象,一旦有了便很容易留痕。但宮下對周遭的流動的意識,卻似是觀察自身呼吸,能知其充滿不定。

每個紙雕都極纖巧,細薄如風,靜置時竟然有股流動中的狀態,鮮活的生命狀態。一個個像站著的人。「我盯著光線裡的東西,感受到顏色。風撩動著思緒,我閉起了雙眼。」世上沒有一模一樣的陽光雨水天空大海,宮下用手捉緊閉眼後的,心的影像。「當雙手在動的時候,我好像在與它互動。」

She adores the texture and patterns formed by the fabric of washi, which appears translucent but at the same time provides a certain firmness. A gentleness is formed when the paper is slightly bent. The metal wire gives the paper an intriguing structure as if it is turning it into an elastic dancer. “I am quite obsessed with changing the impressions of shapes.” It is not at all easy to change people’s impression of something once it is set in stone. But Miyashita’s consciousness of the fluidity of objects around her is similar to the state when someone focuses on one’s breath. The uncertainty can be captivating sometimes.

Every piece of the paper sculpture is immensely delicate, like the wind. It possesses a flowing fluidity that exudes the vibe of a series of quietly standing human. “When I stare at the objects illuminated by light, I feel colors. The wind is sweeping through my thoughts, I then have closed my eyes.” On planet earth, there are no two sets of sky and sea being completely identical. Miyashita attempts to grasp the image left in her heart after closing her eyes. “When my hands are moving, I feel like I am interacting with this conjured image in my mind.”

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或非明確的光影或猛烈的風,那種容易感覺的。而是對微風輕拂那細微得很的自覺。其實低吟也能成為漸強音呢。

It doesn’t take strong lights or blowing wind to arouse our senses. Sometimes it is the subtlety of breeze that makes us most aware of our feelings. Chanting softly is perhaps the new crescendo.

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