Michiko Isobe

Currently living and working in London, Michiko Isobe was born in Hiroshima, a site that witnessed the atomic bomb, where the strong awareness of renewal has influenced and given form to her practice.

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Michiko Isobe completed her BA in printmaking at the Nagoya University of Arts, Japan, and her PGD and MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, London, in 2008. Isobe has shown her work in exhibitions that include: ‘Patchwork Cosmopolite’ at Espace Asiem, Paris, France, and ‘Inhabiting New Spaces’ at Kingsgate Workshops and Gallery, London, UK.

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From Isobe’s previous work where she installed a ‘modern-day’ Ikebana arrangement as a metaphor to the contemporary cultural shifts in Japan, to her work for the present show where she incorporates used Kimonos together with the discarded materials she picked up from the streets around London, her practice reflects a keen awareness and observation of the dynamic surroundings she inhabits. However, it is also a manifestation of a desire to carve a place for herself and make it her own.

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Describing her new installation as a drawing, an intricate composition is laid out across the space through the use of different marks that Isobe creates by ripping, cutting, carving and wrapping her found materials. Each embellishment made is like a memory, engaging us with the intimacy and time spent in creating this environment for herself.

In her work luxury is found in the form of exquisite detail and adornment, in the rich contrasts of material, texture and scale.