Japan

Artists by Nation - Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2014

By Sculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi

m.140901 (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Toshio IezumiSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Toshio Iezumi, Japan

Toshio Iezumi studied glass-working for two years in the Tokyo Glass Art Institute, where he began to make sculptures out of sheet glass. This work culminated in the development of two techniques, the first laminating sheets of glass with adhesive into a block as large as one wants. The second, direct carving of glass using stone carving technique merged with traditional glass-processing. These techniques make it possible to produce glass sculptures of a size and form not previously possible. He combines abstract form with transmitted and reflected light. Iezumi is currently a Professor at the Kurashiki University of the Arts in Japan and has been exhibiting internationally for over 20 years in both solo and group exhibitions. With works in a number of esteemed public collections including Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; and National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, he has completed private and public commissions all over Japan and Australia. Iezumi has been exhibiting regularly in Sculpture by the Sea since 2007 and exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus, Denmark in 2009 and 2011.

metamorphosis - to the sky (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Tetsuro YamasakiSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Tetsuro Yamasaki, Japan

Yamasaki creates sculptures primarily in steel and iron. He has a great affinity with steel and enjoys the ease at which he can work with this metal. His affinity with steel is particularly significant for Yamasaki as a Japanese artist, as in Japan steel is a material closely linked to both daily life, through everyday items such as household utensils, and Japanese culture, through items such as Japanese swords.Yamasaki has produced and presented works on different themes that have evolved over the years from the ‘Space’ series (1982), to the ‘Arc, Circle’ series (1992), and the ‘Metamorphosis’ series (2002). Tetsuro Yamasaki has held 12 solo exhibitions between 1987 and 2013. He has also presented works in numerous group exhibitions and sculpture contests.

crow (2013) (created 2013; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Ko YamazakiSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Ko Yamazaki, Japan

Having travelled and worked extensively in Europe and the US, Ko Yamazaki has explored a myriad of techniques and worked alongside many inspiring artists. His travels saw Yamazaki expand his practice and explore the relationship between western and eastern art. His inspiration grew heavily from the unintended 'artworks' in the everyday; those moments when an object serendipitously fits into a place, forming a landscape unto itself. “I think of my sculptures as unfinished inventories; fragments of my mind, representing portions of my internal self. In reflecting and adopting parts of my personality the marble develops a unique character, and takes on its own life, becoming a three-dimensional reflection of an idea. My sculptures are created through an organic osmosis and not spatially designed for a specific purpose. Carving stone and feeling its contours is a true extension of the mind's eye. Each sculpture is an evolution of emotion and ideas; the exploration process is cathartic. Dreams are the foundation for the relationship I develop with the chosen piece of marble. When I create a work, my hands guide me. I find the palm picks up more than the eye, so I urge people to touch my work and engage with each piece”. Ko Yamasaki

camel country 14 (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Koichi OginoSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Koichi Ogino, Japan

Koichi Ogino lives in a small county where he is totally immersed in the natural world around him. “Looking up to the sky to see clouds, feeling the wind and staring at mountains to think of woods, rocks, and streams. And then I imagine seas. Visitors come everyday. They are sparrows.I love the winter season. In winter in Niigata the ground is covered with snow. All living things fall into sleep, when I think of that, my heart calms down.This small country environment is the subject of my work. This small world is the only one on the earth. I believe it will reach the world if I continue my expression which is possible only here. Looking over the sky, and waiting for sparrows to come over, I will continue working on production. Here comes spring. Swans prepare to return to the northern country. Swallows come from the southern country. Sparrows are making nests busily. I have to start working, pretending to look busy until the silence of winter comes back”. Koichi Ogino

dark night shine 2014 (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Takahiro HirataSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Takahiro Hirata, Japan

Sculptor and painter Naidee Changmoh says his art is inspired by children and a series of Japanese cartoons of a young monk which he used to watch on TV when he was very young. “When I was drawing at university, I would think about this cartoon figure and create my own character, who had quite a large head. Always, part of my work has this (Buddhist) religious philosophy behind it”. Naidee Changmoh. Though he studied painting as an art student, for the past 20 years his main interest has been in ceramics. Casting in bronze has been a natural progression. In the past few years, he has been invited to attend conferences and hold workshops in China, Singapore and Taiwan, and is invited to Italy and the US later this year, and India and England in 2015. Last year he came to Australia by invitation to give a demonstration at the tri-annual national ceramic event held in central western NSW. Changmoh has also been commissioned by a patron to create a number of concrete sculptures for a Buddhist temple in Paris.

water system (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Tatsumi SakaiSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Tatsumi Sakai, Japan

Tatsumi Sakai was born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1955 and has a BA in sculpture from the Kanazawa University of Art and Craft. Between 1978 and 1981 he studied under sculptor Pierre Szekely in Paris. For Sakai stone sculpturing is a channel to showcase the beauty and realism of nature.He does not like to sculpt and create via a very formal and rigid process. He believes that he creates his best work when he is alone with the stones. It is only then can he connect with the stones, and be able to showcase their most beautiful aspects, inside and outside. “This is the true meaning of stone sculpturing, so I have to keep communication with the stones” Tatsumi Sakai. Sakai has taken part in many workshops, symposiums and exhibitions in France, Japan, Taiwan, Romania, Korea, China, Holland, New Zealand and Australia, as well being presented many awards.

cycle90¡ "a premonition of wind" XI (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Kaoru MatsumotoSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Kaoru Matsumoto, Japan

Kaoru Matsumoto studied at the Kyoto International Art Institute in Japan between 1973 and 1977. After his studies, he received some educational support from the Kyoto Prefecture and traveled Central America and South America from 1977 to 1978. He traveled through numerous countries, absorbing their nature and culture. After returning home, Matsumoto started to make kinetic sculptures. For Matsumoto, the same time came repeatedly every day, but it was never the same as the day before. Surely, nature and the person must evolve? He decided to try to express these thoughts through sculpture. Matsumoto attempts to represent wind through the medium of a sculpture, wishing to express the information the wind brings with it. His work contains a message from nature.

the sound of the earth: physical seat XI (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Wataru HamasakaSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Wataru Hamasaka, Japan

Wataru Hamasaka was born in Tokyo, Japan. He completed a Postgraduate degree in Fine Art, specialising in sculpture, at the Kyoto Municipal University of Fine Art and has been exhibiting in solo and group shows, as well as participating in sculpture symposiums and competitions in Japan since the late 1970’s.In the 1980’s Hamasaka studied in detail the relationship between the environment and sculpture and produced a series of sculptures using light and shadow as a metaphor of time. He also worked on a series of sculptures which floated on water. In 1985 he was selected for a Henry Moore grand prize exhibition.Between 2004 and the present, Hamasaka has been producing a series of environmental sculptures focusing on sound as a metaphor of space and has returned to a series of floating sculptures. Hamasaka has exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi and Cottesloe a number of times since 2007.

eyewalk rock (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Masayuki SugiyamaSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Mayasuki Sugiyama, Japan

Keizo Ushio is one of Japan’s most highly regarded sculptors. He graduated from the Kyoto City University of Arts and upon receiving First Prize at the Henry Moore Exhibition at the Hakone Open Air Museum in 1979 began developing his signature style of sculpting. His ingenious carving technique is influenced by the mathematics of the mobius strip, typically known as a one-sided, one-edged surface, which is notoriously difficult to create with materials of great weight and density. This reversed loop seems incompatible with the hardness of the stone but it symbolizes and skillfully expresses the unity of a contrary nature and lies at the core of what makes his work so interesting. The artist has exhibited at every Sculpture by the Sea exhibition since 1999 in Sydney and Perth, and Aarhus in Denmark in 2009 and 2011 and is represented in public and private collections in Japan, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Israel, India, New Zealand, the USA and Australia.

a scene: dedicated to handel's "the water music" 14-3 (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Takeshi TanabeSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Takeshi Tanabe, Japan

Takeshi Tanabe was born in Yamaguchi, Japan. He attended the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts, majoring in Sculpture and graduated in 1970. He also attended graduate school at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts, graduating from the department of sculpture in 1972. Tanabe has held solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan, is the recipient of various awards and has worked under commission in Japan to create monuments for various sites such as parks, roads and city halls. He has also participated in and occasionally acted as art director or organiser for Sculpture Symposium + Projects in Japan and around the world including Austria, Yugoslavia and China. Tanabe’s sculptures investigate ideas of time, space and transmigration.

grow (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Hidemi TokutakeSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Hidemi Tokutake, Japan

Hidemi Tokutake is a Japanese-born ceramic artist who started her ceramic journey at Seto Ceramic School in Japan. She later travelled to Australia where she studies for five years and obtained a Masters of ceramic at the National Art School in Spring 2014. The delicate and brittle nature of Tokutake’s ceramic draws both the fragility and strength of the Australian landscapes. The work aims to embody the birth of nature, the wonder of seeds emerging from pods, the continuum of life, which can be likened to a woman giving birth to a child. These sculptures balance visual resemblance to a woman’s reproductive organs, however they also aim to bring to light the beauty, curiosity and unity between both plant and human.

transfiguration "raise" III (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Mitsuo TakeuchiSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Mitsuo Takeuchi, Japan

Born in Tokyo in 1948, Mitsuo Takeuchi studied at Kyoto Municipal University of Fine Arts where he graduated with a Masters in Fine Art. Takeuchi has exhibited regularly at Sculpture by the Sea since 2004 and exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus, Denmark in 2011. Takeuchi is a recognized international artist who started his career in Japan. He has works held in many important collections around the world, including the Australian National University, and he has won several highly sought after prizes in Japan since 1990. Takeuchi’s work is an experiment in which he expresses the concept of position and topologies as one substance. His expressive, flowing stainless steel sculptures have become a welcome and expected sight at our exhibitions.

oushi zokei gift from the earth forest (created 2014; exhibited Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2014) by Keizo UshioSculpture by the Sea - Bondi

Keizo Ushio, Japan

Keizo Ushio is one of Japan’s most highly regarded sculptors. He graduated from the Kyoto City University of Arts and upon receiving First Prize at the Henry Moore Exhibition at the Hakone Open Air Museum in 1979 began developing his signature style of sculpting. His ingenious carving technique is influenced by the mathematics of the mobius strip, typically known as a one-sided, one-edged surface, which is notoriously difficult to create with materials of great weight and density. This reversed loop seems incompatible with the hardness of the stone but it symbolizes and skillfully expresses the unity of a contrary nature and lies at the core of what makes his work so interesting. The artist has exhibited at every Sculpture by the Sea exhibition since 1999 in Sydney and Perth, and Aarhus in Denmark in 2009 and 2011 and is represented in public and private collections in Japan, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Israel, India, New Zealand, the USA and Australia.

Credits: Story

SxS Cultural Institute Online Producer:

Eleanor Cheetham

Photographers:

Clyde Yee

Gareth Carr

Pauly Vella


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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions (listed below) who have supplied the content.
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