About the Technique
I create my works using tankin, a traditional metalworking technique in which metal sheets are shaped by hammering with a metal mallet. I select the type of metal—copper, brass, or others—depending on what I wish to express and the scale of the piece. At times, I embellish the surface with silver or lacquer.
In tankin, the metal sheet is struck repeatedly with a hammer, building up countless layers of hammer marks across the surface. Through expressions born from this technique, I want to inscribe the act of making, the passage of time, and the process itself into each work.
About the Form
While holding an initial image in mind, I let new forms reveal themselves as I work without preconceptions, and from the shapes that arise by chance, I trust inspiration to determine the lines and find the most fitting contour. By not fixing the form from the outset and shaping it openly, I strive for expressions that feel organic, soft, and warm.
I draw inspiration from nature: the sea, the sky, the gradations of sunrise and sunset, mirages, and the layered forms of conifer forests and overlapping leaves. The beauty, the emotion, the inexpressible feelings I experience when beholding a natural landscape—these are the wellspring of my creation. Guided by the material, I join together the forms that emerge, creating shapes that—with the thinness and durability unique to metal sheet—draw the surrounding air into themselves.
From every angle, these abstract forms are beautiful—forms and expressions that can only be born through the tankin technique—reflecting emotions, memories, and scenes that words cannot capture.
