Internationally recognized as one of the great artistic talents of the contemporary era, Kaneko Toru creates masterpieces through a combination of traditional Japanese metalworking techniques and materials.
With little attention to precious metals, he creates exotic textures and coloured surfaces in large works, silver plating and oxidizing tin, enamelling metal a brilliant white, playing with copper oxide to create rich colours, on shapes that delight the eye.
His work in silver in particular is soft, reminiscent of peaking egg whites, shimmering in hand beaten textured surfaces, and delicate to the touch in the masterful way he controls the threatening vacuum between thin sheets of silver.
Kise HiroshiPaper Weave Pod
Currently Associate Professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design, it's no surprise that two of his post graduate students had sell-out debut's (Kise Hiroshi and Oyama Yasuyuki) during the 2006 Australia-Japan year of exchange exhibitions and master classes.
Oyama YasuyukiGold Punch
"Metal is full of many different expressions. As I handle the metal, I discover beauty in these ever changing expressions. Using this as a starting point, I create form. It is not that I have an image of the form first, but rather that this form is born from my emotional reaction to metal’s expressions.
Recently my work focuses on the use of thin metal sheets. This is because I have
discovered warmth and tenderness in the expressions of the thin metal. Furthermore, it is not only form, but also colouration in which I have a deep interest – I strive to express all of metal’s hues in my work.
My heart sees through the seemingly harsh cold surface of metal to reveal its hidden inner sensuality. Challenging perceptions of its nature and form, I wish my work to bring the fascination of metal to the widest possible audience."
-Kaneko Toru金子透
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