by featured artist: Lisa Solomon

Senninbari

Lisa Solomon | Dec 2021 | Issue 12

The Japanese are masters of the number 1000 [Sen]. It is a number that cozies a number of traditions. The dedication it takes to get to 1000 of anything is no joke —symbolically if you can reach that goal you are rewarded with luck or a wish. In this exhibition I further explore this idea of Sen. Repetition—in mark making and in subject matter as well as investigation often in a scientific manner—are utilized in my practice regularly. For this exhibition my goal was to explore 1000/Sen and the notion of luck by combining facts and data as well as historical and cultural practices with my own lexicon of visual vocabulary. For 10+ years I made work that literally contained an aspect of 1000.

Senninbari were 1000-stitch belts that women would make for their husbands going off to war in WWII. Ideally 1000 women would gather and each one would put a French knot in a belt. They would work on many belts, collectively infusing each one with the luck they hoped would keep their loved ones safe. The belts protect the stomach/gut, which is of significance to the Japanese. The belly or hara is where a person’s power and vitality resides. This is in part why it was an honor for samurai to commit Hara-kiri instead of dying in shame—it was an act of controlling one’s own vitality. The senninbari were meant to be talismans to protect the wearer.

This installation is a series of large 4”x4” French Knots. There were 1000 of them suspended on a wall—20 rows of 50. Made from 3/4” diameter rope and hand dyed in small batches to create an ombre to Japanese red, I strove to create a powerful almost domineering version of the Senninbari. I have continually been interested in scale shifts and love the idea of such a small and insignificant knot wielding much more power and presence. The red obviously refers to the Japanese flag (as does the shape of the knot itself). The labor involved in this piece is also of interest significance. The rope was ordered from a company in China (2200 feet), delivered in giant spools, cut down, dyed, cut into 2 foot sections, and finally tied and then secured for hanging.

As a half Japanese, half Jewish (Eastern European) Caucasian woman, hybridization is literally a part of my DNA, and shows itself often in my practice. Influenced by my paternal grandmother (who was continually making things with her hands), I often choose to incorporate crochet, embroidery, felt, pins, etc. in my work. The history and connotations of these materials intrinsically add to the work.

Lisa Solomon is a studio artist who moonlights as a college professor, illustrator, and graphic designer. Profoundly interested in the idea of hybridization (sparked from her Hapa heritage), Solomon's mixed-media works and large installations revolve thematically around domesticity, craft, and personal histories. She often fuses "wrong" things together—recontextualizing their original purposes, and incorporating materials that question the line between ART and CRAFT. She is also focused on bridging the gaps between being creative, living creatively, and making a living as a creative. She received her BA in art in 1995 from UC Berkeley and MFA from Mills College in 2003. She has exhibited and works with galleries both nationally and internationally, is in numerous private and public collections, and is continually tweaking artworks in her backyard studio. She resides in Oakland, California with her husband, daughter, two kitties, a three legged pit-bull, a dachshund mutt, and many, many spools of thread. She is the author of A Field Guide To Color, Crayola - A Visual History of the World’s Most Famous Crayon, Knot Thread Stitch, as well as the Illustrator for 20 Ways to Draw a Chair and Draw 500 Everyday Things.