Artist Statement – 2023/04/14 –

To those standing on the boundary,

My works cover a range of meanings, but if I were to forcefully summarize them into one statement, it would be that I deconstruct and reinterpret the fields of “ceramics” and “sculpture” in our current living environment, which is known as the information society, in order to embody the layered perceptions and sensations of people.

In some float (2010~), I explored the act of visualizing only the surface of information through a terminal. In object (2012~), I confronted and perceived things that have been seen in art history and ritual conventions. In my recent work, timeleap (2020~), I express the possibility of recognizing the methods of time, which can advance or rewind, and the ability to touch things that are happening simultaneously through the clues provided by the properties of clay and stone.

The technique of making molds with clay and plaster, which is frequently used in my work, is a traditional and basic process. However, for me, it has an important significance in extracting and recording/retaining the background of the formation of the molded shape.

On the other hand, I continue to experiment with appropriate sculpting methods for taking a shapeless state of zero, which cannot be visualized without hands-on clay, and bringing it to a state of a sculpture with an artist’s intention that carries the influence from the social environment.
To present these shapes naturally and clearly, I repeat the process of firing, editing, and stacking. In particular, I perceive the act of firing as a way of abstracting or returning to metaphysics in which the shapes that inevitably exist in reality through visualization are treated autonomously.

Under my feet, there are both concepts and techniques that accumulate in people’s activities, such as culture and art, and physical materials that are inevitably lost, like cash data. Sculpture seems to be a means of recording the current state of these materials and concepts in a moment of chance. Standing on the border of diverse value domains, the act of reaching for what we cannot grasp resembles compassion for others.

Sae Kuwana

Title/
To those standing on the boundary,/ Books: Sae Kuwana ,2023
Overview/
Translated: Tomoko Marui