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< A Yard of Clouds > 1999 Painted camphor wood, marble, sandstone 98*68*34cm |
Production in late 1970s of the statue of a Blessed Mother and Child must have given the artist momentum, as FUNAKOSHI started tackling woodcarving in earnest. Encountering the wood material, he made a great leap forward from conventional, straight-forward and concrete expression using bronze, and brought his unique style to full bloom.
Boldly painted surfaces, attention to the details such as marble eyes, real glasses, accessories and the like, and the calm atmosphere of the works containing the rich expression of the well-restrained pose of the model --a series of such works have made him one of the Japanese artists who are currently attracting a lot of attention outside Japan.
"A Yard of Clouds" reminds one of mountains by its shape. On the left-hand side shoulder, there is a house made of sandstone and the surface of the bust is painted as well, suggesting another massif and clouds.
This is a work in which a multi-layer image expands upon itself with memory and history confined in a human figure.
Boldly painted surfaces, attention to the details such as marble eyes, real glasses, accessories and the like, and the calm atmosphere of the works containing the rich expression of the well-restrained pose of the model --a series of such works have made him one of the Japanese artists who are currently attracting a lot of attention outside Japan.
"A Yard of Clouds" reminds one of mountains by its shape. On the left-hand side shoulder, there is a house made of sandstone and the surface of the bust is painted as well, suggesting another massif and clouds.
This is a work in which a multi-layer image expands upon itself with memory and history confined in a human figure.
