shibari
A series of collaborative photographs inspired by a Shibari performance Canilao recently attended. Canilao was mesmerized by the beauty of the knotted ropes used in Shibari and the visual contrast of their lines pressed against the curves of the human form. She headed a collaboration that combined her elaborate costuming with the ancient tradition of Japanese knot tying to explore recurring themes of ceremony, magic, sensuality, vulnerability, and strength. She engaged in Shibari suspension as a means of processing heartbreak and as a tool to mystify and empower, and to process trauma, versus sexualize the body. This new project is her first step toward translating the worlds she makes on paper into more personal and performative ones using the camera and collaboration.
Arguably the centerpiece of Born From Ruins is a set of six large digital photographs printed onto wood, all depicting the centuries-old Japanese erotic bondage art of Shibari. In each of these pictures, a ritual participant is bound in tightly knotted ropes and (with one exception) suspended aloft in a striking body pose. The Shibari ceremony, according to Canilao, is an act of mystifying self-empowerment, and her photos of the practice convey a strong other-worldly nobility. (A live demonstration performed at the exhibition opening of Born From Ruins, her last solo show at Subliminal Gallery, LA.
