Takeyoshi Mitsui
What is the weight of colour? How much light can a vase accommodate? By looking at his works, it seems like Takeyoshi Mitsui is constantly trying to outrun the usual answers.
This is how colour lifts the weight off the glass and volumetric mass transcends into ether.
Takeyoshi Mitsui is a glass artist living in Toyama. He was born in 1987 in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan and he graduated from Kurashiki University of Science and Arts.
From 2012 he worked at Toyama Glass Studio — a studio established by the Toyama City Government in 1994 which focuses on training young artists in the glass art and craft field. Beside this, it concentrates on reaching it's students how to be independent professionals who can contribute to the both local and global glass culture and to promote it's attractiveness.
The novelty of Mitsui’s kraft as an art comes from the collation against Japan’s tradition with ceramics being the dominant medium for art.
The specific of his works is his unique colour sense in pursuing new expressions. In working with glass he uses an ancient glass forming method, named glassblowing, which is believed was first used in ancient Rome around 1st century B.C. The technique involves wounding molten glass on a blowpipe and then blowing the air into it to form shapes. By employing traditional techniques and using modern design and unique colour he gives shape to some extraordinary art pieces.
He is an independent artist since 2016 and his first solo exhibition, entitled "Silence" took place in the same year. With this he explores the art side of glasswork by adding his touch of colours. For his work he received the U35 award at the Japan Crafts Exhibition in 2017.
In 2016 he was a recipient of the Arts ACT - supported Asialink at Canberra Glassworks / Australia, a reciprocal residency between Australia and Japan that aims to foster cultural exchange and understanding between the regions.
Since then he had two more solo exhibitions in 2018 - "Bottle people" and ”Takeyoshi Mitsui Glass Exhibition” and one Group exhibition “Glas- Gefäß-Objekt” presented at the Neues Museum Nuremberg from Germany.
Mitsui has a personal ability to use colour in a way that defines the form of his glassware. Not only the shape is affected by his use of colour, but the state of aggregation itself. The glass seems soft and malleable transcending the creation moment into the entire life of the piece.
It seems like it is in a liquid state of aggregation, like it merges with the surroundings while remaining an independent entity in space. The glass incorporates the motion of making, tirelessly and unceasing evoking it.
In 2020 HULS Gallery Tokyo held a special exhibition presenting the works of Takeyoshi Mitsui from “Breath” and “Silence” collections and featuring “Amber on Gray”, a new artwork considered to be his masterpiece. It's purpose was to address the need of stability into our life. Just like a breath of air, his new exhibition offers a sense of ease and reassurance in this changing times.
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