Spring Blossoms: Pop and Modern

“Decorativeness” and “playfulness”, as a feature of Japanese art, can be found in craft work going back to Jomon pottery in ancient world. Folding screens or ceramics produced by Rimpa School in Edo Period were followed by metal works or lacquerware for export winning prizes at the World Expositions in the West. All these historical heritage seems to be still alive, transformed into contemporary craftsmanship.

Artwork with various materials are exhibited in Spring Blossoms: Pop & Modern to show latest streams in pottery, glasswork, lacquerware or bamboo work. In addition to traditional innovation to maximize the charm of materials in their original ways, very often artists work with Nature. They aim at generating energy of life with power of materials through repetitive act such as hammering, wheeling, splitting or shaping. Almost meditative work, associated with ancient ritual, will induce their original texture or color scheme. This time, thirteen artists, both established and emerging, will be exhibited issued from area of Kansai, Hokuriku and Kanto. We hope that you enjoy the variety of beauty going beyond the border of Kogei or crafts work.

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Hiroshi Kaneyasu （Japanese lacquer）

Born in Tokyo 1991. He is exploring relationship between colours and forms in the view of materialization with a theme of "An expression of forms and colours in Japanese lacquer & molding". The contrast between the polished streamlined surface and rugged rock like surface of mass is excellent, and his artworks has a wonderful fascination that is beyond our understanding of the traditional Japanese Lacquer works in crafts.

積彩の断片Ⅱ / 漆、石膏　Japanese lacquer, plaster

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Asaho Kamiya (ceramic)

born in Aichi, 1986. Kamiya aims at “image issued from soil” , using ceramic clay and porcelain clay with various texture to create landscape of nature or memory. Glaze or coloring with metals contributes to produce layered surface by repetition of paintings with firing of lower temperature.

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Ayako Kuno（Brass / Bronze）

born in Tokyo, 1983. Kuno’s motifs are cityscape with crowded area of buildings, and she realizes modelling these motifs into silver, brass, bronze by technique of lost-wax casting. Her works are composed of thus acquired minute parts with subdued color, accumulated into the larger works.

Transform-semicircle / アルミ青銅、ブロンズ　aluminum bronze, bronze

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Yoshihiro Miura（Ceramic）

born in Oita, 1987. Miura produces ceramic works with deformed characteristic of animals and birds. Humorous round appearance together with archaic form associated with ancient image of animals are overlapped with geometrical forms.

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Shinta Nakajima（Copper, Silver plated）

born in Tokyo, 1989. Nakajima creates forms inspired with seeds and fruits out of metal sheets with hammering and chasing. Meditative repetition of simple act of hammering is associated with generation of the lives, appealing to collective memories in ancient days.

Mi-Summer Bud / 銅、シルバー925　copper, silver 925

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Satoko Ootsuki（Ceramic）

born in Kanagawa, 1979. Ootsuki develops fine reliefs on the surface of wheel-made body in ceramic, porcelain and new born. Pastel color is her credit associated with sweets, recently added by black spots to her color palette, contributing her aim of creation of natural lives.

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Takuro Tamura（resin)

born in Osaka, 1989. Tamura has manipulated mainly resin works, miscellaneous goods and sometimes even stuffed animals to reveal social contradiction and problems hidden in our normal daily life in an ironical way. While his works made using a prominent molding technology are provocative, there is always some kind of humorous atmosphere.

Melted Soft Serve / 樹脂,ウレタン塗装　resin, urethane paint

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Kasumi Ueba （Ceramic）

born in Kyoto, 1978. Ueba integrates Japanese traditional decorative motifs such as interlocking circles or hexagonal pattern onto ceramic works, generating “chimera” of body and color with stories. Her work, inspired with yuzen-dyed fabrics or traditional objects, can be both pop and contemporary.

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Midori Tsukada（Glass）

born in Gifu, 1972. In search of original texture and color scheme, Tsukada successfully unites glass with metal leaves. With help of heat and gravity, her artwork represents wonder of nature or of energy with sophisticated sensation. Numerous collection includes 21 Century Museum, Kanazawa and Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA.

光華　A flowery shine #4 / ガラス、金属箔　glass, metal leaf

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Tsuyoshi Ueda（Bronze）

born in 1986, Nara. Through metal casting especially that of bronze, Ueda produces his various works. He tries to generate original sensation of human kind vis-à-vis the nature by inducing potential color or aspect that the materials keep themselves.

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Hiroki Uemura（Glass）

born in Hokkaido, 1990. Uemura tries to visualize through his glass work, something around us invisible but recognizable. He represents floating objects in place or space, internal feeling of people, flow or accumulation of time.

あわいのこと　Fading into the Air / ガラス、真鍮、木　glass, brass, tree branch　

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Masao Ueno（bamboo）

born in Nagano, 1949. Surrounded by bamboo patch in the midst of nature, Ueno creates large bamboo works starting with drying and splitting process of materials. His work is installed in many spots in the United States, Australia and Europe including Pritzker Organization, Chicago.

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Shohei Yokoyama（Glass）

born in Okayama, 1985. Yokoyama deals with glass which transforms with heating into material ambivalent between solid and liquid. Simple process of “blowing” can form the glass. Thus created work will express power of life faced to energy generated from materials.

Amorphous18-30 / ガラス（宙吹き） glassblowing

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