Shinji OHMAKI ’s installation art “Flotage-Tectonics” consists of stacked cubes of which the surfaces show patterns of wavy lines and shifting light and shadows. This gives the impression of flowing energy and the changing nature of matter. Through his work, OHMAKI looks to explore the unseen time, memories and journeys that are hidden within people, objects and space. The artist is especially aware of the changeable nature of memory, and that its elements could shift, overlap and be reconstructed as time elapses. The intricate patterns on the cubes are his way of alluding to the traces of change.
“Flotage-Tectonics” is the latest iteration of Shinji OHMAKI’s “Flotage” series, which aims to express the relation between time and memory. The series is inspired by the artist’s 2013 residence in Vermont, U.S. OHMAKI noticed that the ground in the region was covered in snow with little shadow, and the traces of time and space are marked by the wind blowing past the snowy surface. The artists combined these visual elements with the landscape in his imagination and created the “Flotage” series. By reshaping light and shadows through the silk screen prints on his cubes, OHMAKI has managed to display his interpretation of memories and time in a poetics manner, as he puts it, “This is my reinterpretation and portrayal of nature. It is not entirely about geology, but more so a poetic expression. Seeing the shapes of tectonic plates is to me like hearing the earth sing.”
About Shinji OHMAKI
Born 1971 in Gifu, Japan, Shinji OHMAKI is an artist who represents the latest wave of Japanese art scene. He has gained his reputation through the vibrant play of space and materials. The artist specializes in blending his practice with characteristic design on architectural settings, which blurs physical borders and injects personal interpretation and philosophy of relationship between time and space. His dynamic installations turn exhibition space into an extraordinary world and inspire viewers’ physical senses. His works are shown in many international exhibitions and collected by important institutions around the world.