Chiharu Shiota’s installations are a call to reflect on the complexity and connection of human relationships. Wool thread, in white, red, or black, is the primary medium of the Japanese artist, although she often incorporates familiar objects such as shoes, photographs, beds, or rowboats. Entwining the wool on a magnificent scale, her works are sprawling installations that envelop the viewer.
In this episode of ‘Meet the artists’, we visit Shiota in her Berlin studio. There, she shares the moving story of how a cancer diagnosis came just one day after learning she would have her biggest show to date at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum. She also reflects on the symbolic power of string as a metaphor for the passage of time and interconnectedness. ‘My string is visible, but I can see that we are connected with invisible lines,’ she says in the film.
Director
Director of Photography
Editor
Music
Creative Producer
Gerrit Piechowski & Marcus Werner
Gerrit Piechowski & Marcus Werner
Gerrit Piechowski
David Edren and H. Takahashi
Akiel Gallina
Chiharu Shiota’s installations are a call to reflect on the complexity and connection of human relationships. Wool thread, in white, red, or black, is the primary medium of the Japanese artist, although she often incorporates familiar objects such as shoes, photographs, beds, or rowboats. Entwining the wool on a magnificent scale, her works are sprawling installations that envelop the viewer.
In this episode of ‘Meet the artists’, we visit Shiota in her Berlin studio. There, she shares the moving story of how a cancer diagnosis came just one day after learning she would have her biggest show to date at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum. She also reflects on the symbolic power of string as a metaphor for the passage of time and interconnectedness. ‘My string is visible, but I can see that we are connected with invisible lines,’ she says in the film.
Director
Director of Photography
Editor
Music
Creative Producer
Gerrit Piechowski & Marcus Werner
Gerrit Piechowski & Marcus Werner
Gerrit Piechowski
David Edren and H. Takahashi
Akiel Gallina
© 2026 Akiel Gallina
© 2026 Akiel Gallina