From January 21 to February 21, 2023

Japanese artist Mari Ishikawa is deeply influenced by Japanese tradition and in particular by the fundamental role of Nature, which the artist rediscovered and truly appreciated only after leaving Japan to move to Germany in 1994.
Ishikawa’s artistic work is steeped in natural elements and consists of translating what she observes of the world around her into jewelry that encapsulates its purest essence. Through careful observation of her surroundings, the artist discovers every day a world parallel to her daily life. In this regard, Ishikawa herself reveals, “We cannot see anything unless we try. For me, discovery begins precisely with the sense of sight.”
Mari Ishikawa’s solo exhibition thus presents her latest works from the Shakkei (Japanese for “borrowed scenery”) collection. SHAKKEI is a theory of Japanese landscape architecture and follows the principle of incorporating the background landscape into the composition of a garden. A garden created following the principle of a borrowed scenery is realized as a composition that encompasses four essential design elements: The garden must be located connected to a building from which it can be observed; Shakkei requires the presence of a living object to be captured as a borrowed scenery; The designer modifies the view of the captured element to reveal only the essential features he or she wishes to highlight; The borrowed scenery is connected to and reflects the foreground of the garden.
In her works in the Shakkei collection, Ishikawa thus likens the KIMONO model to a “borrowed scenery.” Following the principles of Shakkei theory, the artist integrates the kimono within her composition and from it develops new landscapes made in the form of neckpieces, which only really come to life the moment they are worn.

Thereza Pedrosa