Threads of Life

Thread to thread in black and red, criss-crossing and merging within Chiharu Shiota’s immersive installation at the Hayward Gallery. This stirring piece contemplates the human condition; intricately connected and uniquely individual. Drawing from personal experience, Shiota uses red and black threads to weave a story of life, death and relationships. 

Threads of Life unfolds across three main rooms: walk-through webs embodying the invisible connections that shape the human experience. Both shared and defining moments are represented in each room by various objects, lovingly tangled in the yarn. Each display stirs feelings of familiarity and empathy; the universal recognition of all that encompasses life and death. 

In the first room, keys dangle from a network of scarlet string, surrounding a welcoming open doorway. Shiota uses keys that have been owned and donated by real people, symbolising an authentic connection to her art. These intimate mementos have been shared to open the door to all of us, inviting visitors into Shiota’s constellation of shared experience. 

Next comes the spidery web of jet black thread sprawling over clinical white beds. Chiharu Shiota’s use of beds is rooted in her personal experience of time spent in hospital, facing illness and mortality. Here we see inky darkness blanketing the place we experience the most significant moments of life. Shiota recognises the bed as more than a place of suffering and death. Here we are born, here we also rest and dream. 

The last room in the exhibition is a warming contrast to the others. More vibrant red threads reach from ceiling to the floor, creating a cosy pathway. Attached are letters of gratitude sent to Shiota, untangled and calm. They bid farewell to the viewer with a comforting embrace. 

By the time visitors leave the final room, Shiota’s threads no longer feel like an artistic device but a reminder of the ties that shape every life. Through ordinary objects and simple materials, Threads of Life transforms private memories into something universal, leaving the audience with the quiet sense that they, too, are part of the same intricate web. 

Words by Adele Cordani