Jerome Fortin, Self-Portrait (Autoportrait) No.3 (2007)
Our Object of the Week is a textile sculpture entitled Self-Portrait (Autoportrait) No.3, made in 2007 by Jérôme Fortin.
Known in Canada and internationally for his sculptural installations, Fortin was born in Joliette, Québec in 1971, and now lives and works in Montréal.
Fortin created Self-Portrait (Autoportrait) No.3 while he was Creator-in-Residence at the Tokyo Wonder Site in Japan in 2007. He was inspired by different elements of Japanese culture for this project including: Senbazuru, 1,000 origami cranes held together on string (according to traditional Japanese legend, the maker of the Senbazuru is granted a wish which is typically used for an ailing loved one or to offer good wishes at weddings and births); and the kimono that hang on bamboo rods in shop windows in Japan. Fortin collected the paper he used for this project – newspapers, telephone books, maps, comic strips, sheet music, etc. – while walking the streets of Tokyo and folded these found-pages into strips using a repeating triangular pattern. Self-Portrait (Autoportrait) No.3 evokes the shape and exquisite craftsmanship of traditional Japanese kimono.
Install and detail images of Self-Portrait (Autoportrait) No.3 are courtesy of Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain (pfoac.com).
