I visited Kurumi Kotani’s solo exhibition “Sand to Stardust (Cosmos).”
Gallery Nomart
Beyond new works from the two series she has been developing — “21g,” inspired by condensation-covered windows, and “Time / Traces (Rust)” — the show also includes an installation and a new series of copperplate prints.
At first glance the works may look like a gathering of pieces built on entirely different concepts, but they share a single overarching theme: “traces and presences of existence.” That is also expressed in the exhibition title, “Sand to Stardust.”
“Even the macro flow of time on a cosmic scale lives on as a micro trace, like a single grain of sand at our feet.” The show is an ambitious attempt to convey that sensation through a wide range of methods.
The artist herself considers this exhibition an important milestone in her practice.
Installation work < Shiki > iron, cinnamon, stromatolite #2
New works from the “Time / Traces (Rust)” series (right) Boundary 1 (left) Boundary 2The large piece at the center of the wall is a new work from the “Time / Traces (Rust)” series, < A Bouquet That Will Not Bloom >
The installation combines iron — an important material for her — with stromatolite, a layered rock formed over long stretches of time from the remains of cyanobacteria and mud particles.
The work, which symbolically evokes sand and stars, may bring to mind the quiet, resonant impression of a Zen temple’s rock garden.
Cinnamon, used here in place of sand, adds a mysterious note through its fragrance.
Installation work < Shiki > iron, cinnamon, stromatolite #3New works from the “21g” seriesNew works from the “21g” seriesNew work from the “21g” series, UFO (detail)
Also a first for her, the copperplate prints were shown as unique works, paired with the copper plates themselves, deliberately corroded.
The corroded plates give visible form to the traces left by the passage of time.
< Saji > Sphynx #3 — a unique work pairing the copperplate print with the copper plate it was made from
The cat used as motif is the hairless Sphynx breed.
It was chosen as a symbol of what humans have selectively bred as pets over a long history — a mark left by human hands.
< Saji > Sphynx #4, copperplate print, edition of 5
Listening to the artist’s own commentary in the gallery, I could feel her consistent commitment to grappling with the transformation of matter and the causality of life over immense stretches of time.
