Visitors to Berlin-based Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota’s latest solo show at Templon Gallery in Chelsea immediately encounter a tunnel-like path through hanging fiberoptic threads, an enchanting space that invites wonder. Tiny lights at the end of each thread affixed to the ceiling form walls of white light which open up to allow visitors to walk around a white chair placed at the center of the gallery. Known for employing everyday objects that may carry histories of use, Shiota arranges a flurry of butterfly-like fabric tufts above the chair, perhaps alluding to a person or spirit who is no longer there. Suggesting transformation and passage into another state of consciousness, wakefulness or life, the installation is a dramatic opener to a though-provoking show. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 22nd).
