BROCKTON, MA.- Fuller Craft Museum presents Structured Space – An installation by Machiko Agano from May 7, 2009 through March 7, 2010. Curated by William Thrasher, the exhibition of this internationally known work by the renowned Japanese conceptual fiber artist, Machiko Agano, has been newly conceived especially for Fuller Craft Museum’s Courtyard Gallery. With this installation, Fuller Craft commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Boston-Kyoto Sister City relationship, founded in 1959 as the first of the official US-Japan Sister Cities.

Initially trained as a weaver, Agano is now focused on creating large site-specific works using a wide range of materials. In Structured Space the natural elements of light, texture, form and space are uniquely integrated “to make visible the delicate feeling of air” – an immense work that has the soft folds and drape of fabric and is structurally lyrical. She loosely knits together nylon fishing line, stainless steel wire, and handmade Japanese kozo paper to create an ethereal form. The large construction is fixed at points on the ceiling and walls, creating structural tension. The neutral colors and simplicity allow the colors and light of the surrounding space to pervade and continually redefine the work. The result is a blurring of the boundaries between the work and the space it inhabits.

Machiko Agano was born in 1953 and between and received her undergraduate and post-graduate education from Kyoto City University of Arts in Japan. She is currently a professor in the textile department at Kyoto Seika University. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions worldwide. She is the recipient of numerous awards and her work is included in several collections, including the National Museum of Osaka and the National Museum of Modern Art of Kyoto.