Mt. Amano Kaguyama, Kirikane glass
Yamamoto Akane b.1977
Kirikane is a Japanese decorative technique originally used for Buddhist paintings and wooden statues , imported from China during the 6th century of the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) . It employs gold or silver foil cut into hairline strips or minute triangular or square pieces to be affixed with glue onto the surface to be decorated. The technique known as gold glass or gold sandwich glass is found in Hellenistic Greece of around 3rd century B C . Yamamoto developed further this gold glass technique into her own, affixing kirikane onto the glass surface, welding and polishing the surface so that the glass and the kirikane decoration got completely fused into a single entity.
The subtle lines of kirikane decoration applied in l ayers appear floating in the space against light coming through transparency of the glass and its beauty achieved beyond the extreme limit of the material is highly evocative and surreal.