tech
February 20, 2026
Fabric of memory: the artists turning secondhand clothes into monumental art
Yin Xiuzhen builds cities from donated clothing while Chiharu Shiota weaves found objects into vast webs of thread. Now the two are exhibiting their massive, moving installations in two parallel exhibitions
TL;DR
- Yin Xiuzhen prefers the term "worn" over "secondhand" for clothes, seeing them as imprinted with social meaning.
- Her installations use collected or personal garments, often stretched across steel frames to resemble various forms.
- Chiharu Shiota uses thread and found objects such as suitcases and keys to create monumental, web-like installations.
- Both artists explore memory, identity, and lived experience through textiles and found objects.
- Yin's work is often a reaction to societal change and urbanization, like her "Portable Cities" series.
- Shiota's art is informed by personal experiences, including her battles with ovarian cancer, and explores themes of mortality.
- The two artists' exhibitions, "Heart to Heart" by Yin and "Threads of Life" by Shiota, are running in parallel at the Hayward Gallery.
- The gallery curator, Yung Ma, highlights the overlapping interests of the two artists, focusing on textiles and found objects carrying identity.
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