2024.9.14sat - 10.20 sun

TOYAMAKANAZAWA

ARTISTS

Iwasaki Tsutomu

  • EXHIBITION

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Persimmon, 2024, maple, lacquer, gofun, glue, water dried paint and pigments. Collection of the artist. Photo: Yashima Ryoko

Persimmon, 2020, maple, lacquer, gofun, glue, water dried paint and pigments. Collection of the artist. Photo: Yashima Ryoko

Installation view from solo exhibition at 105MaGallery, Fukuoka, 2024.

Iwasaki’s father is a sculptor in Toyama’s Inami wood-carving tradition¬—an intricate style of carving used to adorn Buddhist temples and other architecture. Iwasaki follows in those traditions but has pioneered his own original style. Each hewn from a single block of wood, his sculptures feature meticulously carved, ornate designs that maximize the inherent beauty of the wood itself. Persimmons are a frequent motif, which Iwasaki says evoke images of traditional village life in Japan, and for him personally, the fruit is a poignant reminder of his own hometown near the mountains. His renderings of persimmons capture this multifaceted image in his mind, presenting versions of the fruit that feel more real than an actual persimmon.

EXHIBITION

IWASE AREA

I-6|Shukyoraku Kuchiiwa Storehouse

PROFILE

Iwasaki Tsutomu

b. 1972 in Toyama Prefecture. Iwasaki’s father is a sculptor in the Inami wood-carving tradition, a style associated with ornately carved beams in traditional Japanese architecture. Iwasaki graduated with a BFA in sculpture from Musashino Art University in 1995. After training under his father, he started a workshop to pursue his own vision of artistic expression. He relocated to Higashi-Iwase in Toyama in 2008 and founded Iwasaki Wood Carving. His realistic works based in traditional sculpting techniques have earned much acclaim domestically and internationally. Recent exhibitions include In the Genes. Taking Marvelous Meiji Craftsmanship into the Future (traveling exhibition held at the Mitsui Memorial Museum and elsewhere, 2023–2024) and Tsutomu Iwasaki (105Ma Gallery, 2024).