Noriko Ambe – Paper landscapes

Version française

Our gaze follows the contours that punctuate the paper sculptures created by artist Noriko Ambe: Curves, holes, ridges appear, as well as waves or mountain peaks, mysterious caves and cavities. Paper has become a territory, a landscape, a field open to the viewer’s imagination.
The titles of Ambe’s works also speak of this « geography of paper »: “Lands of Emptiness” follow “A Piece of Flat Globe” and coexist with “Water Source”. With her, the night is no longer so dark (White Night, « an installation where light perpetually circles the work, like a sun that never sets » as the artist explains) and, of course, snow, so well matched to the color of her paper, sometimes makes an appearance (The Last Snow).

To the artist, « the “Linear Actions Project” began with the act of drawing lines, initially as a means to explore the nature of one’s own originality (existence). The overlapping of distorted lines came to represent strata, and gradually evolved into an endeavor to embody a natural synchronicity involving humanity and time, akin to the Grand Canyon. » For the last 26 years, Noriko Ambe has worked tirelessly on what was meant to be a 10-years project. Involved is a slow and quiet process that expresses a sensitivity to landscape and nature where lies the mark of her country of origin, Japan – a country she returned to live in after years spent in New York, a city where she continues to work intermittently.

Hidden behind this harmony that we do feel when looking at her sculptures, however, lies an anxiety about living on a land on borrowed time, on an archipelago that regularly experiences natural disasters – from typhoons to tsunamis to earthquakes. As the artist stated herself, « I anticipate reaching new sculptural realms through the discontinuity and repetition of that single line…influenced by Japan’s earthquakes and so on ».

The artist’s scissors do not tremble though as they translate the upheavals of nature. There is a great deal of technical mastery and precision in the cutting behind these forms, which are almost deceptively simple. Snow-white, the paper used by the artist, called Yupo, is thick and water-resistant: it does not have the transparency of Washi, that very Japanese fine paper whose veins and fibers are so clearly visible, but it has a strength and lightness that allows for broken lines and layering. When illuminated by a light source, it takes on a warm, soft, and enigmatic presence. Presented in the cold, harsh light of day, it forms a block or blends into the walls and pedestals—a true wall-walker.

Statements expressed by the artist, February 2026

Artist Website: https://www.norikoambe.com/

Maho Kubota Gallery, Tokyo: https://www.mahokubota.com/en/artists/noriko-ambe/