silhouettes of warmth – ruiko imai

Memories are subjective, ephemeral, unreliable.  They fall apart, crumble, discarded in the dark abyss of our minds. Yet Ruiko Imai does not forget. Rather, she takes the monotony of simple found objects – pens, scissors, and shoes, and turns them into glass sculptures imbued with the beauty of things that once were, the soft warmth of memories instilled in white powdered glass  red and fused upon cut and sewn brass wire.

Reminiscent of ancient sculptures covered in snow and weathered with the passing of time, the young artist’s glassworks express memories of love and a ection, of everyday life and simple pleasures, breathing new life into memory itself by capturing their very silhouettes in the silent glitter of white.

In “Silhouettes of Warmth”, Ruiko Imai pushes the boundaries of what she can physically create, with life-size blouses, jackets and skirts seemingly taking on a life of their own, animated, standing upright, swaying like flags as they blow in the wind.

Imai’s works are totemic, talismanic, elegiac poems in glass. And they fully encapsulate the world of the artist: both her real world and her imaginary one.

Wahei Aoyama

A Lighthouse called Kanata

Exhibition DM