When Chiharu Shiota told her parents she wanted to become an artist, they didn’t exactly approve. They ran a fish box manufacturing company in Osaka and didn’t see art as a responsible path. Ultimately, they supported her decision. Shiota enrolled at Kyoto Seika University, where, in 1994, she staged her first installation/performance. Titled Becoming Painting, it saw her shaving her head and drenching both her body and the exhibition space in red paint, evoking blood. Shiota moved to Berlin and in the early 2000s she pivoted. Instead of painting, she began weaving webs of red thread and wool, which she suspended in vast spaces to create giant networks of veins and synapses. To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of W.W. II, Shiota has now created a sight-specific installation that delves into wartime experiences and personal history. It is shown alongside earlier works by the artist. —Jeanne Malle