Hong Kong
Exhibition: The Beauty of Geometry – Bamboo Art by Hajime Nakatomi A solo exhibition
17 April – 16 May 2021
Presented by The Gallery by SOIL
Curated by wamono art

wamono art and The Gallery by SOIL  are pleased
to announce that we will be holding  
“The Beauty of Geometry –
Bamboo Art by Hajime Nakatomi” exhibition in Hong Kong.
Nakatomi has a very wide range of activities among
bamboo artists, and participates in exhibitions, workshops and lectures
not only in Japan but also in the United States, Europe, Brazil and other asian countries.
He created commission works for hotels, and participated a charity project
which collaborated with other creators.  
Many of his works are collected in the museums.

Artist Statement:
I would like the people of Hong Kong, who are accustomed to the ancient bamboo culture, to feel a new aspect of bamboo that has never been seen before. That is my sincere hope in this solo exhibition.

My main series of works may seem strange and different compared to the bamboo craft works that are generally imagined. This is because the production method is created by disassembling and reconstructing the components of bamboo or bamboo crafts. Rather than adding new design elements on top of traditional techniques, I create them in a deconstructive way. It may be difficult to understand at first glance, but I think it is a work that you can enjoy over time.

The “Prism series”, which combines geometric figures, does not look like bamboo at all, but it takes out “the property of bending with the heat of bamboo” and “the structural geometry of bamboo baskets” and assembles them randomly. By matching, we create poetic sentiment. In addition, by incorporating colours that are rarely used until now, the poetic sentiment is increased.

The “Frill” series, which is colored with organic curves, maximizes and visualizes the “characteristics of twisting plaiting”. The techniques that are often used for edges, such as “rope plaiting” and “co-edge technique”, which are located at the periphery, are sublimated into works while taking advantage of their twisting characteristics.

The “Hachihogu Series”, which connects the numbers 8, pays attention to the magical nature of ancient objects while utilising to the fullest the most important “tension” of the material characteristics of bamboo, and it is a work with a prayer for a good fortune. In the same way that the various auspicious patterns drawn on the vessels contain prayers for prosperity and longevity of descendants, we also pray for happiness by connecting the numbers 8, which are auspicious numbers in oriental culture.

The exhibition will be centered around the three main series mentioned above, and I would like to share the space with the people of Hong Kong, surrounded by bamboo, a plant that has the cultural meaning of dispelling evil, after the world disaster of COVID-19.