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Mari Katayama: Tree of Life
Join us to celebrate a new photographic commission by the Japanese artist Mari Katayama
Mari Katayama hand-sews intricate objects that often appear in her photographs. 'tree of life' is a series of elaborate self-portraits in which Katayama positions her body with the largest of her ‘soft sculptures’ to date: a hand-stitched three-by-twenty-metre tube with multiple limbs.
To the artist, the reflections that distort her figure represent a kind of transformation. Shapes emerge in a continuous flow, resembling maps, rivers, blood vessels, branches and tree roots, each element evoking the vitality of life.
Join us for the unveiling of this new commission, in the presence of the artist and alongside her accompanying book ‘Synthesis’ by SPBH Editions.
This commission is supported by the V&A Parasol Foundation Women in Photography Project and will be on display in The Parasol Foundation Gallery (G97) in the V&A Photography Centre from 15th November 2025 until 29th August 2027.
Header image: ‘tree of life’, 2025. Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by The Parasol Foundation Women in Photography Project.