136. CHIHARU SHIOTA: A SPACE BETWEEN LINE AND LIFE.

Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life, The Hayward Gallery - LONDON.

Installation view of Chiharu Shiota_ Threads of Life. Threads of Life (2026). Photo_ Mark Blower. Courtesy of The Hayward Gallery. ∏ DACS, London, 2026 and Chiharu Shiota.(1)

M-A: I was fascinated to witness your works as somehow morphing between states, between an installation and a drawing - how have you come to understand the medium of your installations, and has your relationship with thread changed over time?

C.S: I always wanted to be a painter, but when I was in art school I felt stuck. I felt that everything I created had already been made before. It had no feeling, it was just colour on a canvas.

Only later, when I started using thread, I felt that I could put meaning into the material. At the same time, it still felt like I was painting. The single line in the installation is like a line in a painting. I feel as if I am drawing in the air.

I need to create the artwork in the museum. I cannot make the work in the studio. The installation is like a drawing, it changes while I am making it and depends on where I am making it. I continue creating lines until people can no longer follow a single line with their eyes.

Chiharu Shiota is a contributing artist to M-A (A SPACE BETWEEN) issue 5, The complete interview will be published within the issue, which will be presented in the autumn of 2026.

Installation view of Chiharu Shiota_ Threads of Life. During Sleep (2026) Photo_ Mark Blower. Courtesy of The Hayward Gallery. ∏ DACS, London, 2026 and Chiharu Shiota.

Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life, The Hayward Gallery - LONDON. Until 3 May, 2026.

With thanks to Megan Edwards and Rosalie Pfleger.