Harue Shimomoto manipulates glass into sculptural tapestries, examining the aesthetic possibilities in fusing methods and concepts from the mediums of glass and fiber. Shimomoto prizes simplicity and clarity, seeking to distill her impressions into forms which express their essence. This precisely arranged glass environment captures her experience of a particular aspect of each season: a summer storm, a quiet autumn rain, the crisp, cold winter night sky, and the reflective surface of a spring pond.

“I appreciate the feelings I get from even the most unspectacular nature, and the small things in everyday life,” Shimomoto says. “I find the small beauties of nature are the ones that most change my view.” The fragility of a glass environment has an immediate visceral impact, which Shimomoto appreciates. But she says, “I do not want the viewer to be too conscious of the glass. I almost believe that glass itself is too beautiful to be a medium. Many people see glass as functional object or decorative material. I want to break those images of glass and give it a different quality. Therefore, I am careful to make my work stronger than the medium.” In her work Shimomoto is striving for what she calls “a strong quiet: the quiet of a mountain.”

-written by Judy Clowes

 

 

 

Shimomoto recently received her MFA in the UW-Madison’s Department of Art. Shimomoto received her BFA from Tokyo's Mushashino Art University in 1995, and has also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Her work is supported in part by Habatat Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida. In her most recent exhibition, an installation at the Design Gallery, her work moves beyond the wall to create pathways through a complex network of glass rods, transforming the gallery's space into a meditative journey. [view installation ]