Shikyu is an abstract sculptural hanging installation constructed from 100% pure natural hand-dyed silk, fabric, and plastic. The textile part of the sculpture utilizes the ‘Yuzen’ [友禅染] technique, a traditional Japanese fabric dyeing method dating back to the 18th century, using luminous bolts of pure white mulberry silk fabric, to create elaborate designs for kimono. For this sculpture, this technique is used to create a ‘floating textile painting’ that explores the innate desire to protect, nurture and safekeep from all evil.
In Japanese, 子宮 [Shikyū] is the term for ‘uterus’, and it is made up of the characters 子 [ko] for ‘baby’, and 宮 [miya] for ‘palace’.