Chaos © KAKU 1530 × 1800 mm Collection of Ginza Ippodo Gallery
“My work is like a tunnel to the distant memories humans carry”
Using materials like washi, lacquer, and metal, KAKU’s textured works have captivated audiences worldwide for over five decades. At this year’s Tokyo Gendai, KAKU will exhibit his pieces with Ginza Ippodo Gallery. In the following interview, he reflects on his process, and the memories shaping his art.
What drew you to washi, and in what ways do you see its potential?
The texture, beauty, and softness of washi made it the material that felt most natural in my hands, especially for expressing curves in my work.
What is most often your starting point for a work of art?
The ideas behind my works aren’t things I intentionally create – they feel more like fragments that spill out of my mind, which I then gather and shape.
What inspires the colours you use?
My choice of colours may have been an expression of liberation from the dark skies during my time in Hungary, or of placing light and hope into the colours. At present, my works are mainly centred around white.
Your process has been described as close to a meditative state – can you elaborate on what that means to you?
What is expressed in my works is always like a tunnel to the distant memories humans carry – warm, nostalgic memories from before we were born.
Is there anything you would like to share or have people feel when they see your work at Tokyo Gendai?
I would like for each viewer to engage in a dialogue with my work, and perhaps take with them a fragment of my world – of nostalgic, happy memories.
<Thank you very much! We look forward to seeing your work in September. Visit Ippodo Gallery’s official website here! >
KAKU
KAKU (b. 1950) is an internationally celebrated artist and designer whose avant-garde approach to traditional Japanese materials have captivated audiences for over five decades. KAKU designs in materials including washi, lacquer, metal for exhibition installations and functional objects. His unique approaches – such as redesigning the ergonomics of a chair or the washi pieces coiled around wire into the shape of koi fish – garner much attention both overseas and Japan, and he has shown extensively around the world since 1975.
