These works by Jacob Hashimoto are an unusual combination of mechanics, shape and colour. Constructed with techniques used for handcrafting kites, and made from bamboo, natural-tone rice and silk papers. These are dipped in acrylic polymer and then strung together.
Formal qualities dominate here perhaps, but they appeal to me because they allude to the tapestry loom and it’s mix of colour, yarn and arbitration within the matrix of a threaded framework. There is something therapeutic about studying the surface of a tapestry, with the interwoven yarns rhythmically undulating and then disappearing behind other shades. Here there are no yarns, but rather shadows, shapes and illuminations. The effect is similarly alluring.
The trappings of kite-making are unlike the entirely formal and ‘held’ nature of yarn within the loom, rather these mini kites allude to the capture of flying things. They reference ‘the airborne’, lanterns and celebration from The Orient, drawing on the artist’s Japanese roots. Graphic shields and crests in traditional Japanese textile motifs also come to mind.
