About the Artists: Mariko Kusumoto „Ethereal Journey"

Place: Ring Gallery, 12 Main Square

Date: 16.04.-9.06.24

Opening: 11.05.24, 18:00

Opening hours:

Tuesday-Sunday 12:00 - 18:00

Admission free

Born in Kumamoto, Japan, and based in Massachusetts, Mariko Kusumoto prevails upon fabric to construct forms of elegant simplicity and evocative imagery. Her designs are incorporated into jewelry and sculptural pieces, as well as in collaborations with fashion designers. In January 2019, her work appeared on the Jean Paul Gaultier catwalk at Paris Haute Couture.

Kusumoto was introduced to metal as a sculptural medium when she was a graduate student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco; she subsequently worked with the material for numerous years before incorporating fabric into her practice. Her first solo museum show, at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts in 2010, presented fantastic metal-box sculptures that echo the assemblages of Joseph Cornell. In 2014, Kusumoto began working with light polyester fabric to explore the potential of a softer material.

Her work is informed by her childhood spent in a four-century-old Buddhist temple. Kusumoto is inspired by ancient man-made structures and the microscopic world alike, and many of her sculptures appear to have been taken from the deep sea.

Her works are in the permanent collections of museums like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Swiss National Museum, and the Racine Art Museum.

Fascinated by the potential of different materials, Kusumoto strives to bring out each fabric’s inherent characteristics and beauty. Using a proprietary heat-setting technique, she gives the fabric a new identity by reshaping it into three-dimensional forms. In addition to finding inspiration in the material itself, she is motivated by the process of experimentation, during which accidental discoveries lead to new ideas.

Mariko Kusumoto is best known for intricately sculpted fabric sculptures, jewelry, and other wearables. Resembling marine life and other biomorphic forms, her works play with the materiality of translucent fabric.

My work reflects various, observable phenomena that stimulate my mind and senses; they can be natural or man-made.  I “reorganize” them into a new presentation that can be described as surreal, amusing, graceful, or unexpected.  A playful, happy atmosphere pervades my work.  I always like to leave some space for the viewer's imagination; I hope the viewer experiences discovery, surprise, and wonder through my work.

My metalwork incorporates found, and representational imagery and is very involved and technically challenging.  My recent fabric pieces have developed with much experimentation and demonstrate an evolution from the properties of metal to something opposite.  During the experimental process there is sometimes a breathtaking moment; I 'catch' those moments and develop ideas from that point.  I like the softness, gentle texture, and atmospheric (e.g., translucent) quality of the fabrics I use.  In all of my work, there is always the insistence on skill and craftsmanship.

Sea Breeze necklace, polyester, 2023

Coral necklace, polyester fabric

Pins, polyester, brass, paint