Paper Quilt
Pictures to view,to read and to listen to
“A picture and the accompanying poem make up one complete work,” says Tetsuji Yamashita. View the picture first, then read the accompanying poem. We feel something that starts to move slowly and smoothly in our mind. From the supposedly static image we feel the sounds and light flowing from it. We might feel it is like the beginning of a live show made up of a picture and a poem. It is too easy to pay attention only to Tetsuji Yamashita’s sensitive paper quilts, but if we want to truly appreciate his work, we will have to “listen to”the duet between his picture and his poem.
Colorful. Intricate. Beautiful.
Tetsuji Yamashita-The World of Paper Collage.
The works of Tetsuji Yamashita exhibit the potential of collage and have also been created by the technique of layering the colorful papers. Pieces of variety of forms mingled comfortably in the visual, invites audiences to the sense of unknown experience. At first glance you get the impression that these are depicted in CG and paintings, but its details are constructed by putting together tiny pieces of paper, each one millimeter in length. You can see that they are made entirely by hand, piece by piece. It’s a unique method that can’t be found anywhere in the world. Expressed as “Paper Quilt ” in the Netherlands, it has been shown in solo and group exhibitions worldwide until now. “Paper Quilt”, the piece that could be seen as a design or a regular art, is at the same time a brand new field of art, which was created with the inspiration from Africa, “the color that is there.”
The Japanese beauty of "impermanence of things" through people’s mind
Paper Quilt is mainly made from western paper. The color of western paper is very sharp and vivid, so the artwork of Paper Quilt gives an impression of great beauty. On the other hand, paper in general, regardless of type, has a characteristic of aging as time passes and also because of exposure to sunlight. The change is as gradual as a big river flowing and is a precious thing. As all living things are enjoying their life, Paper Quilt also ages, and matures, with those who watch. While Paper Quilt also has to face the reality of aging, the way of changing gradually itself by aging is like “Aware = impermanence of things”: the theory that aging is a kind of beauty lasting from ancient Japan.