ARTIST STATEMENT
'To re-propose the fascination of objects that were closely related to our everyday life as crafts and furniture, and were later separated from the West and grouped under the term Japanese art.' I was given the opportunity to exhibit my work, and so I have reorganized the flow of my own ceramic creation in light of its history.
Since ancient times, the craving for a “would be nice to have" has always been what triggers production. Then the product technology improved from daily use to an offering to the powerful. As time goes by, "artworks" come to be created by individuals with an ideology. What had been a division of labor became a consistent individual work. As a contemporary artist, I aim to create works of art, not products.
In my case, as creation and my daily life become closer, I began to turn to my work with desires that could not be resolved in my small room. My desires/lust were triggered and transformed, and looking at a collection of photos of beautiful ladies wearing a swimsuit, was transformed into a motive to tinker with pottery clay, leading to a new creation.
The basic idea of appreciating Japanese art is to enjoy it indoors. For example, some may enjoy collecting items like Netsuke (small sculpture originating in the 17th century), soba-choko (buckwheat noodle cup), and incense container, and others may satisfy their own interest by enjoying the combination of wall scrolls and flowers to decorate their Tokonoma (alcove), though it is supposed to be a place where guests are invited in. The appreciation of these objects is very different in character from the appreciation of contemporary fine art.
The daily life of an individual artist is a mixture of appreciation and creation, and I feel it is unhealthy not to mix the desire to create with personal desires in daily life, which is where the opportunity for new motifs and forms in contemporary crafts can be found.
These dots that connect in the brain are not just a whim but are the result of a natural flow of life, and the created pieces would not become unnatural. Contemporary craft works often focus on materials and techniques, but in this exhibition, we would like you to see how the ‘muddle of daily life and lust for creation' has been applied to his artworks as contemporary Japanese art.
I hope you all enjoy my exhibition.
CURATOR'S STATEMENT
ART FOR THOUGHT is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Yuki Shimizu, 'Room of Desire' as “the foundry” series vol. 2.
His works are placed on a tray. In sculptural works, the pedestal is considered an important element that represents the strength of the work as art, and it’s the same about the vessels created by Shimizu. By being placed on a tray, they make us recognize them as “artworks”.
On the other hand, the combination of tray and vessel is taken from the Tokonoma (alcove), and the diversity of expression in terms of seasons and Wabi-Sabi (aesthetic sense in Japanese art emphasizing quiet simplicity and subdued refinement) through the combination of these two elements firmly establishes the presence of this art as a lifestyle craft in Japanese art.
The artworks of Shimizu go between and support the conflicting contexts, like art and craft, Western art and Japanese art, artwork and vessel. And it consists with his everyday desire/lusts. It is precisely because of this kitschy disclosure (about the swimsuit photo collection being the root of his lust for creation), while encompassing a lofty context, that those of us who live each day with sweat and tears cannot help but feel attached to his work.