Weaving Glass, Knitting Hearts

Since antiquity we have been knitting or braiding threads together into forms, and crossing them over and under each other to weave cloth. These are techniques for the production of clothing and household items and simultaneously, fundamental, ingenious means to shape our world. Both entwining individual strands to produce an organically expanding whole, and making fibers intersect vertically and horizontally to form a stable surface, represent structure, and the process of generation.
This exhibition revisits the expressive material possibilities of glass via works from the Toyama Glass Art Museum collection, selected with such knitting and weaving in mind. From lace glass that spreads in the manner of a color palette knitted together, to works that construct spaces through the layering of lines, and fragments that when combined take on a garment-like appearance, the pieces here do not merely display technical skill, but reflect how manmade objects have come to be, and to resonate with our ideas and sense of relationality.
When a material like glass, outwardly cold and hard, is knitted or woven together, what arises may well be “making” at its most primeval. In this exhibition, we turn our gaze to various types of knitting and weaving to present the thoughts and emotions infusing new looks for glass, and new works in glass. We invite you to experience the rich diversity of the Toyama Glass Art Museum collection.

Extracted works and Artists
Toots ZYNSKY, Marino, 2007;  ENAMI Fujiko, Fire, 2014; Lino TAGLIAPIETRA, Africa, 2014;
SATO Shizue, Interface vol.6, 2020; TAKEOKA Kensuke, Line transition ’21, 2021;
GONJO Mafune, Scent of mist, 2017; YASUDA Taizo, Koshino Ao Glass Bowl with Reticello Design, 2023
and other works from the collection of Toyama Glass Art Museum

Toyama Glass Art Museum
bijutsukan-01@city.toyama.lg.jp