Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972, Osaka) studied at the Kyoto Seika University in Kyoto, becoming a visiting professor there from 2010-2013. Shiota’s work focuses on the fundamental aspects of life, death and the experience of human relationships.

The red thread is part of Chiharu Shiota’s unique methodology within her artistic expressions. It acts as a connection between the artist, her work, and the audience, allowing for her ideas to effectively travel from the piece to a wider collective consciousness. Her use of symbolic objects such as books may be regarded as guardians of memory, and Shiota communicates her state of being with regards to the memories that these objects bring up for the artist.