Yoshiaki Imamura
Pursuing your own alchemy, aiming for a middle ground between art and craft
Based in Okinawa, he continues to create works using ceramics.Yoshiaki Imamura(Imamura and Yoshiaki).
Imamura has been interested in making things since he was a child, and would sometimes lose track of time while making things and get absorbed in it. He loves dinosaurs, and as he got older through elementary and junior high school, he became fascinated with ``unidentified creatures'' such as Tsuchinoko, Kappa, and Nessie.
``Unknown things'' have the power to excite, improve feelings, and stir up images. Imamura says he wants to create something that has such an overwhelming presence that no one has ever seen before.
Imamura chose the path of ceramics because of his interest in three-dimensional objects.
At first, he thought that pottery was about firing something he shaped with his own hands, but an encounter with a young potter changed his views on this.
Pottery is about ``firing'' something in a kiln without your hands.
Through fire, we create something ``unknown'' that exceeds our imagination.
``Pottery'' is truly ``alchemy.''
Imamura felt this strongly and wanted to explore his own version of "alchemy".
He became interested in ``ceramics''.
What is created in the kiln by heat and the force of nature = gravity,
It easily exceeds the imagination of the person who tried to create it.
However, the object in front of you is the "truth",
Facing this "truth" and having a dialogue satisfies the creator's own curiosity.
Imamura's style is to create works of matter that move naturally due to heat and gravity.
One of his masterpieces is a wine glass decorated with multiple human faces.
This work was created right after 3.11. Initially, it had political intentions.
Ceramic works that express satire on politics and society in this way are probably rare.
Is it art or craft?
Imamura positions his creative activities as ``something in between.''
If technique alone is used, it becomes craft, but if thought comes first, it becomes art.
I want to have both an idea as an art and a high level of skill as a craft.
Combining both may lead to the development of a "new genre."
Rather than making something that has a purpose or role, such as a cup for drinking coffee, it is better to come up with ideas and create something from nothing.
Face yourself, listen to your inner voice, and be aware of what comes out from within.
Creative activities that combine what is born here with universal things that exist in nature.
This is one of Imamura's future challenges.
B-OWND
Imamura has been interested in making things since he was a child, and would sometimes lose track of time while making things and get absorbed in it. He loves dinosaurs, and as he got older through elementary and junior high school, he became fascinated with ``unidentified creatures'' such as Tsuchinoko, Kappa, and Nessie.
``Unknown things'' have the power to excite, improve feelings, and stir up images. Imamura says he wants to create something that has such an overwhelming presence that no one has ever seen before.
Imamura chose the path of ceramics because of his interest in three-dimensional objects.
At first, he thought that pottery was about firing something he shaped with his own hands, but an encounter with a young potter changed his views on this.
Pottery is about ``firing'' something in a kiln without your hands.
Through fire, we create something ``unknown'' that exceeds our imagination.
``Pottery'' is truly ``alchemy.''
Imamura felt this strongly and wanted to explore his own version of "alchemy".
He became interested in ``ceramics''.
What is created in the kiln by heat and the force of nature = gravity,
It easily exceeds the imagination of the person who tried to create it.
However, the object in front of you is the "truth",
Facing this "truth" and having a dialogue satisfies the creator's own curiosity.
Imamura's style is to create works of matter that move naturally due to heat and gravity.
One of his masterpieces is a wine glass decorated with multiple human faces.
This work was created right after 3.11. Initially, it had political intentions.
Ceramic works that express satire on politics and society in this way are probably rare.
Is it art or craft?
Imamura positions his creative activities as ``something in between.''
If technique alone is used, it becomes craft, but if thought comes first, it becomes art.
I want to have both an idea as an art and a high level of skill as a craft.
Combining both may lead to the development of a "new genre."
Rather than making something that has a purpose or role, such as a cup for drinking coffee, it is better to come up with ideas and create something from nothing.
Face yourself, listen to your inner voice, and be aware of what comes out from within.
Creative activities that combine what is born here with universal things that exist in nature.
This is one of Imamura's future challenges.
B-OWND
Yoshiaki Imamura
- 1984 | Born in Hyogo Prefecture
- 1994
- Interested in unidentified organisms
- 2003: Entered Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, majoring in ceramics. He is interested in minerals and glazes that melt and change in the kiln. After entering graduate school, he created a piece that attempted to visualize gravity.
- 2013: Set up an atelier. Since then, in addition to experimental works, he has also started making pottery.
- 2017
- Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, Part-time Lecturer
個展
- 2016
- Tajimi Gallery Voice “Current vessels, future vessels/Part IV”