On My Art 1

- History of My Art(2007)


I am a sculptor and specialized in small sculptures. My favorite theme in my art has been " Love and Growth"; these are probably the most important things in life for many.
I was born in Japan v.1954. I studied sculpture at the Art College of Nihon University in Tokyo and graduated in 1979. During your studies, I participated in group exhibitions and competitions and I've won first place in the Niigata county annual exhibition of art in the field of sculpture v.1978. The number one signified a lot for the young artist. My teachers were: Takeshi Tsuchitani (1926-2004) and Yoshitatsu Yanagihara (1910-2004), who were ones of most respected sculptors in Japan.

After graduating, I thought about the identity of my art and at the same time I wanted to study international contemporary art. I left Japan to explore contemporary art with my own eyes in 1981, at 27 years old. The main destination of the trip was Europe, plus I also traveled to the United States and Israel. I used all my time to get acquainted with art museums and art galleries in different countries at the beginning of the trip. I was excited to see the world's top art with my own eyes. But my enthusiasm was gradually lost. All the art works I saw became normal. After a couple of years I realized that in this way I would not find the art I was looking for. I should look for what I should do. From that "enlightenment" I found my way and at the same time knew it would not be easy. During my study trip I had visited Finland for three summers. I fell in love with Finnish nature and people. I felt part of Finland. At the end of my voyage in 1984, when I was 30, I decided to stay in Finland. Since then I have lived and worked in Finland until the present day.

My artistic activity so far can be divided into two periods, early period and main period. When I arrived in Finland, I started creating a series called "Beginning". The series could be described as a quiet, secret and warm forest / mushroom landscape, I really want to say; spiritual landscape. At the same time, I started a series called "The Time of Roses", which is also a quiet, secret and fascinating flower series. These two series were followed by a series called "The Holy Tree" and the series "The Tree of Life".
When I was doing my trees, the flowers began to burst and later fruits. I felt that something important was still coming, but I didn't know what it would be. Finally, my baby figure started growing up in my tree. I was very excited about this "finding". I felt that I had managed to realize and create something significant. In this early-age production, the use of pulp was the principal. These works were featured in an exhibition called "Night Box", in Turku, Helsinki, Tampere, Vaasa, etc. The early period lasted about 10 years 1985-94.

The main period began when I was 40 years old in 1994. In this period, I was fascinated by human figures, especially pair characters like mother and child, woman and man. At first I did not know what I should do after the baby had appeared in the Tree of Life. I felt like I had already done what I wanted to do. There was emptiness inside me. One day I took some clay in my hand, but I molded it a small crouching female figure and then standing female figure, was born of clay. Then came the idea of Madonna with a little boy inside. I made standing figure of Madonna with little boy inside. I immediately felt (almost heard a snap) that everything was completely right in this theme. That's how the "mother and child" series started. I came to understand why there are so many mother and child statues. The artist becomes part of the work, he assumes the role of the chosen son or son protecting the mother. I felt really good at doing Madonna. "I am the chosen son." "I am the mother."

The next topic was a woman and a man. One might think that the boy has grown up and the mother has changed into a young woman. In my sculptures a man and a woman belong together. They have a same body. When I was doing this theme, I realized and felt that the wife was not only the object of love, but also the partner of life. We go our way together by helping each other. It may sound like a quite normal thing. But it seems that the thing went deeper and even deepened my own marriage.
The next topic was the family, the children came to the couple. In many sculptures, they still have a common body with all their family members.
The meanings of art have recently become more and more diverse, birth, death, muse, guardian angel, etc. However, above all, the main theme has been "Love and Growth", and perhaps the subject will remain the same in the near future.

Beginning 1, 1985

 

Time of Roses 5, 1989

 

Tree of Life, 1993

 

Madonna, 1994

 

Union, 1996

 

 

 

Family 4, 1999

Leda, 2000

Prinsess of Lotus, 2005