nina nomura crafts artfully perforated landscape by melting holes into plastic everyday items

‘Life through Holes’ by Nina Nomura

On the occasion of the 2022 edition of DESIGNART Tokyo, Japanese artist Nina Nomura presents her exhibition ‘Life Through Holes’ at Hibiya OKUROJI. In her work, Nomura melts holes into everyday plastic products, from chairs and tables to a refrigerator and its contents. The result is a landscape of artfully perforated objects whose holes filter through the light and create a mesmerizing visual effect.

DESIGNART Tokyo transforms the Japanese capital into an open-air museum from October 21 to October 30, 2022. In addition to Nina Nomura, numerous leading artists from the fields of art, design, interior architecture, and fashion will converge on Tokyo and stage exhibitions at various venues. As a media partner of DESIGNART Tokyo 2022, designboom highlights the venues and exhibitions that enliven the Japanese city this month.

Nomura melts holes into everyday plastic products, from chairs and tables to a refrigerator and its contents

image © designboom

giving new life to plastic household items

In her work, Nina Nomura uses a soldering iron and an air filter mask to make holes in the surface of ordinary household furniture, appliances, and objects. This gives the plastic products an intricate perforated skin that resembles molecular structures. At this year’s DESIGNART, the Tokyo-born artist presents the exhibition ‘Life Through Holes,’ featuring a perforated dining set and a refrigerator containing plastic packaging – from bottles and yogurt cups to Tupperware in various sizes and a plastic fruit carry case. The artificial light penetrates the holes and transforms them into tiny illuminated cells.

As the artist explains on her website, plastic is made from petroleum, a fossil fuel created from ancient marine organisms like plankton that have been exposed to years of heat and pressure. Her process uncovers the origin of these materials, revealing the truth behind their seemingly inorganic nature and giving them a new life. ‘The act of making a hole is to reveal the origin of this material and reproduce it as an imaginary landscape,’ Nomura explains.

the exhibition ‘Life Through Holes,’ features a perforated dining set