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Katie Strachan "Draped Moments"
Suchsize
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Katie Strachan
More than patched cloth and repurposed fabric scraps, boro textiles carry the imprint of multi-generational family ties and the embodied presence of the hands that stitched and mended them. Each layer bears quiet yet powerful traces of inheritance and care. Echoing this sentiment, the work of Katie Strachan reflects on the transience of time, the transmission of memory, and the impulse to leave something behind in the face of inevitable change.
Strachan thins clay to become as delicate as fabric, at times rendering it into powder, and creating materials that are fragile and amorphous. The process of layering and folding these thin sheets echoes the repetition of hand-stitched embroidery, suggesting a slow accumulation of time. Through careful firing, her ceramics embody the simultaneous presence of fragility and strength—seemingly contradictory yet coexisting.
In the series envelop, layers of clay—so thin they become translucent—are draped and folded, allowing glimpses of the sculptures’ inner form through tears, much like ancestral fabrics revealing themselves through the worn gaps of boro cloth. Countless visible and invisible marks across the surfaces reveal the artist’s presence, conveying the care and energy involved in their making. Meanwhile, the series interval feature evenly spaced cuts on clay, also reminiscent of the running stitches of sashiko—another core element of boro mending. Here, the works present an austere, minimalist presence, stripped of all ornamentation. Made without glaze or colorant, the pieces feature repetitive incisions executed with the barest of gestures. During firing, these cuts fracture and reveal the clay’s powdery interior. Strachan’s restrained expression and repetitive acts speak to a reverence for the physical process of transformation, as well as an acceptance of the ever-changing nature of all things.
In Strachan’s words, “Artworks are not merely objects; they can serve as gateways to different perceptions of time, like relics.” In front of her works, viewers come to inhabit a sense of temporality in which preservation and decay are held in delicate balance, as if witnessing a fleeting moment suspended between the two. Similarly, boro textiles evoke not only the era in which they were used, but the cumulative span of time they have endured through generations of use, visible to the eye. In this mutable world, where all material things eventually decay and cycle anew, the very act of preserving form amid the irreversible flow of time becomes a way of confronting a temporality beyond natural order.
In today’s world—where the smartphones in our palms spin out fragments of memory, objects are discarded before they show signs of wear—Strachan’s ceramics aspire to become relics, seeking to accompany the endless flow of time. Carrying the image of where the fleeting and the timeless meet, Stratchan’s works remain suspended in fragile tension, quietly whispering to us that we live within a world shaped by impermanence.
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1Boro refers to traditional Japanese textiles that originated in the rural, working-class communities of Japan’s northern regions. Created over generations through hand-dyeing, patching, and layering worn fabric scraps, these household textiles embody a philosophy of repair, resilience, and renewal. They are characterised by visible stitching and an aesthetic of imperfection and weathering associated with wabi-sabi. Though originally born of necessity, boro has since been embraced as a form of folk art and tangible cultural heritage, inspiring contemporary artists and designers who draw on its legacy to explore themes of transience and sustainability.
[Related Events]
Talk Event
Date & Time: August 23 (Sat) 16:00-17:30
Venue: Suchsize
Admission: Free
*Seating available for the first 15 guests (no reservation required) *Japanese–English consecutive interpretation provided.
Strachan thins clay to become as delicate as fabric, at times rendering it into powder, and creating materials that are fragile and amorphous. The process of layering and folding these thin sheets echoes the repetition of hand-stitched embroidery, suggesting a slow accumulation of time. Through careful firing, her ceramics embody the simultaneous presence of fragility and strength—seemingly contradictory yet coexisting.
In the series envelop, layers of clay—so thin they become translucent—are draped and folded, allowing glimpses of the sculptures’ inner form through tears, much like ancestral fabrics revealing themselves through the worn gaps of boro cloth. Countless visible and invisible marks across the surfaces reveal the artist’s presence, conveying the care and energy involved in their making. Meanwhile, the series interval feature evenly spaced cuts on clay, also reminiscent of the running stitches of sashiko—another core element of boro mending. Here, the works present an austere, minimalist presence, stripped of all ornamentation. Made without glaze or colorant, the pieces feature repetitive incisions executed with the barest of gestures. During firing, these cuts fracture and reveal the clay’s powdery interior. Strachan’s restrained expression and repetitive acts speak to a reverence for the physical process of transformation, as well as an acceptance of the ever-changing nature of all things.
In Strachan’s words, “Artworks are not merely objects; they can serve as gateways to different perceptions of time, like relics.” In front of her works, viewers come to inhabit a sense of temporality in which preservation and decay are held in delicate balance, as if witnessing a fleeting moment suspended between the two. Similarly, boro textiles evoke not only the era in which they were used, but the cumulative span of time they have endured through generations of use, visible to the eye. In this mutable world, where all material things eventually decay and cycle anew, the very act of preserving form amid the irreversible flow of time becomes a way of confronting a temporality beyond natural order.
In today’s world—where the smartphones in our palms spin out fragments of memory, objects are discarded before they show signs of wear—Strachan’s ceramics aspire to become relics, seeking to accompany the endless flow of time. Carrying the image of where the fleeting and the timeless meet, Stratchan’s works remain suspended in fragile tension, quietly whispering to us that we live within a world shaped by impermanence.
—----------
1Boro refers to traditional Japanese textiles that originated in the rural, working-class communities of Japan’s northern regions. Created over generations through hand-dyeing, patching, and layering worn fabric scraps, these household textiles embody a philosophy of repair, resilience, and renewal. They are characterised by visible stitching and an aesthetic of imperfection and weathering associated with wabi-sabi. Though originally born of necessity, boro has since been embraced as a form of folk art and tangible cultural heritage, inspiring contemporary artists and designers who draw on its legacy to explore themes of transience and sustainability.
[Related Events]
Talk Event
Date & Time: August 23 (Sat) 16:00-17:30
Venue: Suchsize
Admission: Free
*Seating available for the first 15 guests (no reservation required) *Japanese–English consecutive interpretation provided.
Schedule | Jul 18 (Fri) 2025-Sep 20 (Sat) 2025 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Jul 19 (Sat) 2025 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.suchsize.com/blog/2025/07/09/164525 | ||||
| Venue | Suchsize http://suchsize.com/ | ||||
| Location | 1-6-20 Sanno-cho, Nishinari-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 557-0001 | ||||
| Access | 5 minute walk from Dobutsuen-mae Station on the Midosuji and Sakaisuji subway lines, 8 minute walk from Shinimamiya Station on the JR Kansai Main and Osaka Loop lines or Nankai line. | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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