There is a Japanese legend that when a child is born, a red thread is tied around their little finger and connected to another person, thereby setting their fate to be in each other’s lives.
The thread is believed to be an extension of the blood vessel running from our heart to our little finger.
This article first appeared in the Resurgence & Ecologist magazine.
In this way, the accumulation of red threads creates an endless, universal web of connections.
Relationships
All these relationships remain invisible to the naked eye, but what I want to reveal is this web of connection through my work.
At the same time, the red thread becomes a metaphor for our relationships, as a single thread can be knotted, tense, loose, or cut, just like our connections.
Through my work, I try to make sense of life and its uncertainties. As each installation has grown from personal experiences such as loss, death and relationships, I want to expand these feelings into something universal.
Emotional
Even though we live our lives separately, I believe we are at the same time deeply connected and can relate to these emotions.
With my work, I am able to express feelings that can’t be said with words, and through this I question what it means to be human and our purpose of existence.
While I always wanted to become a painter, at some point the colour on the canvas no longer had meaning to me. I could not find my identity in that medium.
However, with the thread, I can put all my emotions into what I make. Each installation in this exhibition represents a stage of emotional passage in our lives, and in the end I want to highlight the marvellous aspects of ordinary existence.
This Author
Chiharu Shiota is an international installation artist. Threads of Life runs until 3 May 2026 at the Hayward Gallery, London, UK. This article first appeared in the Resurgence & Ecologist magazine.