Tracing the Interplay of Light and Glass

Art3

Sep 15

Fall art season kicked off in New York City, and over the next few weeks our blog will spotlight some of the most innovative and consequential shows featuring Japanese artists.

First, we’d like to report on Lumina, Ritsue Mishima’s first solo show in the city. Born in Kyota in 1962, Mishima moved to Venice, Italy in 1989 and now splits her time between the two cities. Her quest to find the perfect vase for a flower installation led her to Italy, where she began to experiment with glassblowing herself. Ritsue’s large, heavy vessels translate colorful Murano traditions into a contemporary and uniquely Japanese aesthetic that features bold, colorless glass objects.

Collaborating with Venetian master craftsmen, Ritsue weds thousand-year-old glassmaking techniques with a modern sensibility that emphasizes spontaneity. She does not plan or design her sculptures ahead of time. Instead, she creates clay models that are transformed into sculptures by Venetian craftsmen.

This collaboration results in intuitive, abstract, and energetic forms that allow her to trace the ephemeral interplay between light and glass. Her installations are carefully designed to showcase the interactions between her objects and the environments in which they are placed. More than anything else, Ritsue treasures her collaboration with the glassblowers. In her words, “I’ve learned the unpredictability about glass making from the craftsman, and I taught them to dare to take the creation to the extreme.”

Japan Suite

Showcasing traditional Japanese crafts and the artisans who create them — their stories and their art in words and visions. Japan’s hand-made crafts have played an integral role in the lives of Japanese for centuries. They are created in response to basic, everyday needs and have long been used in the daily rhythms of life. They come from the earth and from nature, and they are prized for their simplicity and long life. Craftspeople pour their passion, pride and energy into their handiwork, creating objects that can far outlive their creators, but in doing so, they carry on the artist’s legacy. The artisans know their objects can live hundreds of years, and they want to be just as proud of it in 100 years as they are today. So, everyday household items take on a life of their own, their own spirit and their own story. They are unique, one-of-a-kind creations with a character and spirit that grows stronger with regular use. The artist creates the object, but that is just the beginning of the journey. In the hands of its owner, a relationship is created, one that is nurtured across time. Just as we do, these creations will change over time developing new imperfections and new character. Each region and each artisan have their own character. In Japan, this is known as meibutsu. The legacy has been passed down by Japanese artists across time down to today’s craftspeople who are advancing and redefining this tradition. We applaud these artisans, and we strive to support them as they re-interpret the heritage of their predecessors — and we are proud to introduce their work, their stories and the passion they put into their creation here at Japan Suite.

Tracing the Interplay of Light and Glass

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