Present Working as a fulltime artist
2010-15 Faculty of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop
1999-02 Trainee of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop
1997 M.F.A., Tokyo University of the Arts
1995 B.F.A., Tokyo University of the Arts
1970 Born in Ishikawa Prefecture
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Galerie Pousse, Tokyo ('15,'10, '09)
2016 Floating Forms: Lacquer Sculpture, Keiko Art International
2010 Galerie Pousse, Tokyo ('10, '09)
2004 Hirota Art Gallery ANNEX, Ishikawa
Art Box, Tamagawa Takashimaya, Tokyo
2003 Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo (also in '02, 01)
Gallery Chiyodo, Ishikawa
Group Exhibitions
2018 Collect, London, by ESH Gallery
Art Fair Tokyo (’16, ’17)
The Present Situation of URUSHI, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi
2017 Art Geneve, Palexpo Switzerland, by ESH Gallery
Art Fair Tokyo (’16, ’17)
Japan in Black and White, sumi, lacquer and porcelain, ESH Gallery, Milan
Art Monte-Carlo, Grimldi Forum, Monaco, by ESH Gallery (’16)
TRESOR Contemporary Craft, Messe Basel, Switzerland, by ESH Gallery
Hard Bodies: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer Sculpture, Minneapolis Institute of Art, U.S.A.
Kanazawa KOGEI Art Fair, Kanazawa, by KUMU
Aizu Urushi Art Festival, Fukushima
2016 URUSHI_ISM_LACCA GIAPPONESE, Esh Gallery, Milan, Italy
Art Fair Tokyo (’16, ’17)
China-Korea-Japan Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Collection Museum, China
International Urushi Exhibition, Tongyeong City Museum, Korea
Fuzhou International Biennale, China
2015 Nippon! Contemporary Arts and Crafts from Japan, ESH Gallery, Milan, Italy
Dialogue with Materials: Contemporary Japanese Arts an Crafts, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey
2014 Dialogue with Materials: Contemporary Japanese Arts an Crafts, Ahmed Adnen Saygun Sanat Merkezi, Izmir, Turkey
2012 Play Baroque, Isetan, Tokyo
125th Anniversary Event, Tokyo University of the Arts, Urushi Art and History
2011 Contemporary Japanese Lacquer, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York
150th Anniversary of friendship between Germany and Japan, Kanazawa Lackkunst, Musterring Gallery, Germany
2009 20th Anniversary Exhibition at Kanazawa Utatsuyama Craft Studio, "Artists who Connect Periods", 21st Century of Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
2006 Artland On 150x150 partⅥ, Roof Gallery, Tamagawa Takashimaya, Tokyo
Formative Lacquer – Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Gion Konishi, Kyoto
Objet d'art in daily life, Crossroad 7 Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo
Japan & Korea Lacquer arts exhibition - Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo and Ishikawa Wajima Urushi Art Museum, Ishikawa
2005 Possibilities of Lacquer Clay, Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo
Scene of Lacquer – by MURAMOTO Shingo and FUJINO Seiichiro, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
23rd Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition (Invited exhibit)/ Osaka & Yokohama
2004 The 2004 Emma Lake Collaboration, Canada
2003 Access/ Accessory, Takaoka Art Museum, Toyama
Experiences as craftmen in today's USA, Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo
2002 Works "Present of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop" , Masuda Studio, Tokyo
50th anniversary Ikebana Ohararyu Exhibition "Masaaki", Ishikawa Ongakudo, Ishikawa
2001 Kanazawa Craft Exhibition, Meitetsu Marukoshi, Ishikawa
International Craft Competition, Kanazawa, Kourinbo Yamato, Ishikawa
The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, PA
2000 678th Craft Gallery Exhibition "My works", Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo
Sawaru Urushi–Tanoshimu, Maruzen, Tokyo & Okayama
1999 Lacquer OBQ, Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo
1998 Lacquer OBQ, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, Tokyo
1995 Lacquer Art Exhibition of Four Artists, Fujita Vente Museum, Tokyo
Awards
2017 Grand Prix, Kanazawa Craft Council
2016 Chairman’s Prize, Kanazawa Craft Council
2012 Judge’s Special Award, International Lacquer Exhibition Ishikawa 2012
2002 Honorable Mention, International Lacquer Exhibition Ishikawa 2002
2001 Honorable Mention,Art and Craft in Obokesugi
2000 Excellent Award, Art and Craft in Obokesugi
1999 Special Prize, International Lacquer Design
Collections/ Public Art
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN
Marunouchi Hotel Co, Ltd./ Tokyo
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA
Design Center Ishikawa, Ishikawa
Lobby, Horizon Place Akasaka, Tokyo
Lobby, Proud Uehara, Tokyo
Hotel Trusty, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Utatsuyama Craft Workshop, Ishikawa
Press
Play / Paly Lacquer Art, Commercial Space Magazine
Lacquer Art in the Living Spaces, Sunday Art, Yomiuri Shinbun
Art Collector, Seikatsuno Tomo Publisher, 2010
MMJ Vol.5 No.12, Mainichi Shinbun Publisher, 2009
Urushi and Art, Jisho Publisher, 2008
Normally works of lacquer seem to be very solid, but I wanted to create forms that were light, and that might appear to be moved by the wind. In order to express this feeling I developed a technique of stretching fabric over bowed twigs in order to create the body of a form.
I am also very interested in coexistence in nature, like the relationship between insects and plants. This reminds me of the importance of each different material that I use in my work, but I am not sure that people get this feeling from my work.
The forms evolve from the relationship between the different materials. For example, the bowed twigs create movement; then the fabric stretched over them creates the curved surface; and then the lacquer coated on the surface finalizes the forms. And this is my goal-- to make interesting forms through the relationships of each of three components.
