Name/Title
Red on Yellow #2Entry/Object ID
2023.2.2Description
A drawing with wool on a hand-woven wool canvas. The canvas background is yellow and seems to have a burlap-like texture and frayed edges. The red weaving is jagged. Most of the piece holds negative space, with the positive space being filled with red, jagged parallel weavings. In the bottom right corner, cross hatchings go down to a point. The weavings intersect and overlap, curving upwards or downwards at some point in their flow.Location
Category
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ExhibitExhibition
In their Own WordsInterpretative Labels
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DidacticLabel
Inspired by Mbuti barkcloth paintings, Akiko Kotani’s Red on Yellow #2 uses the repetitive process of stitching on canvas to explore cyclicality. The Mbuti people of Central Africa create elaborate barkcloth paintings by preparing tree bark from the Ituri Rainforest and then painting symbolic images on the resulting textile. In her work, Kotani mirrors the rhythms observed on the barkcloth through the repeated ritual of needle and thread puncturing canvas. Diving under the cloth and coming back up to the surface until a pattern emerges, the stitches themselves become physical manifestations of Mbuti beliefs about the cyclical nature of life. Kotani is interested in the elemental and tactile dimension of textile work and uses the “essential nature of the stitch” to communicate intangible experiences.