Since ancient times, mounting materials have been utilized in Japanese art and architecture to bring ornamentations to the fore. Textile materials, on the other hand, have served the function of decorating human forms as kimono. These two material types share the important auxiliary role of closely supporting their main expressive media—namely, artwork or the human form, depending on the case—via skillful material combinations in their respective applications. All of these materials have been created via techniques refined through repeated practice and use by numerous predecessors and artisans over the years. This exhibition, titled “Line,” focuses specifically on these valuable and significant traditional materials. The beauty of lines can be seen in both Japanese architecture and spatial ornamentation, which make use of singular, traditional Japanese aesthetics revolving around horizontal and vertical lines. This beauty is also encountered in lines resulting from damage caused by the paper- and textile-eating insect silverfish, whose results cannot be authentically replicated by the human hand.
Through my works for this exhibition, I have endeavored to express the elegant lines that I encounter in my day-to-day work as a picture framer.

— Masahiro Inoue