Tomio Koyama Gallery Roppongi is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Tsutomu Iwasaki. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, showcasing a selection of his signature wood carvings that feature a persimmon motif as well as a number of new works.
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While there is a superb level of craftsmanship in the works of Tsutomu Iwasaki, they also have a certain appeal that stems from how they strive for something other than realistic representation, despite the fact that they are depictions of persimmons.
The size of these works is also a little larger than an actual persimmon. By making persimmons out of wood in the form of sculptures, Iwasaki seems to be articulating something of the realistic physical representations that the artist himself makes, and recreating “persimmons as objects.”
Tomio Koyama
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Tsutomu Iwasaki was born in 1972 in Inami, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture. With a father who is a traditional Toyama Inami sculptor known for his ranma sculptures (a kind of fixture in traditional Japanese interiors), it was natural for him to pursue a career in sculpture.
After graduating from the sculpture department at Musashino Art University in 1995, Iwasaki studied under sculptor Minami Tada and his own father before striking out on his own in order to pursue a more realistic idiom of expression. In 2023, he participated in the “In the Genes, Taking Marvelous Meiji Craftsmanship into the Future” exhibition (which toured to Gallery 1 of the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum, and the Mitsui Memorial Museum among others), the creation of Tenjin statues, which he regards as his lifework, and works produced in collaboration with nearby temples, Michelin-starred restaurants, and internationally renowned watch manufacturers, earning him critical acclaim both in Japan and abroad.
The persimmon motif in his work Kaki (Persimmon) is so surprisingly delicate and realistic that one finds it hard to believe it is a wood carving at first glance. According to Iwasaki, however, it is a physical manifestation of a mental image that he has. In his hometown of Inami, there are lots of persimmon trees, but when they bear fruit, no one takes them. The persimmons turn a deep orange color, snow piles up, and then they rot and fall to the ground. For Iwasaki, this is a kind of originary landscape for the artist, and the work itself can be traced to a kind of nostalgic yearning for this scene.
These works also project Iwasaki’s idea of “persimmon-ness” and “the beauty of persimmons” with a certain measure of both exaggeration and omission.
“When I depict the withering of a persimmon with leaves, for instance, it is not actually this color. There are times, however, when the color of persimmon leaves in my mind takes on the appearance of a peacock-like pattern, even if only for a moment. That, to me, is a kind of ‘persimmon-ness.’ So I make it look as if it is withering to express a sense of nostalgic longing and melancholy, but it is not really this color when it is in the process of doing so.” *1
Iwasaki’s production method involves devoting a considerable amount of time to making a three-dimensional sketch in clay before he starts to carve, and then moving on to the wood. Using a technique known as ichiboku-zukuri, in which the branches, leaves, and fruits are all carved from a single piece of wood, Iwasaki then conveys the image he has in mind to the Japanese painter Chikako Hirai so that these pieces can be colored, following a lengthy back and forth discussion. As such, only two of these sculptures can be produced each year. Although these persimmons may be larger than an actual persimmon fruit, and their stems may take on a different shape and color than the real thing, these pieces reflect what Iwasaki considers to be the “concept of a persimmon.” They exude a strong sense of realism and temporality that seems to approximate the essence of what a persimmon is, as well as a profound artistry that transcends all of these elements.
“Persimmons are so representative of Japanese fruits that they are known as the ‘national fruit.’ I would love for those who see my paintings to remember that each individual persimmon has feelings and emotions associated with it, and to recall some of the feelings they had whenever they saw persimmons as a child.” *2
We hope you will come to visit this exhibition to experience what the “real thing” means, what the “essence of something” is, what the existence of a thing is all about, and to see what it is about Iwasaki’s works that might tug at your heartstrings.
*1 “February 24, 2024: Tsutomu Iwasaki (wood sculptor) x Yuji Akimoto (art critic),” Tsutomu Iwasaki Exhibition Catalogue, 105MaGALLERY, 2024
*2 “GO FOR KOGEI” Artist interview footage
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For press inquiries, please contact: press@tomiokoyamagallery.com (Makiko Okado)
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