Finding inspiration in natural forms and craft traditions, Akiko Kotani’s art conjures a sense of the extraordinary. Raised in Hawaii, Kotani admired her mother’s knitting skills and nurtured her interest by learning Mayan weaving from a master artist in Guatemala. For the past 50 years, Kotani’s art has evolved stitch by stitch, with careful attention to scale, color and texture.
Recently, the Gulfport-based artist presented a new body of work at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg. Titled “BURST,” crocheted silk panels protrude through the gallery walls and tumble across the floor. Kotani’s magenta- and pink-hued tapestries evoke the cascading rush of water from a fissure in the wall. The juxtaposition of hard and soft—the fractured plaster and texture of crocheted strands—emphasize the enduring beauty of the handmade.
Joanna Robotham is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art.
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