Hong Kong
Exhibition: VOIDS – Tsukasa Soda First Solo Exhibition
24 February – 25 March 2023

WAMONO ART is proud to announce VOIDS, the first solo exhibition by Tsukasa Soda (b. 1978, Japan), a promising Japanese young artist in the field of contemporary ceramic art. This is the first ever solo exhibition of Tsukasa Soda and brings for the first time 10 new works to an exhibition. Fascinated by the uniqueness and creativity of his works, wamono art has been working with Tsukasa Soda since the beginning of his career as a ceramic artist. Soda’s works were accepted in two competitions which are known as gateways for young ceramic artists: in 2019 for the 8^th Kikuchi Biennale and in 2022 for the 5^th Triennale of Kogei in Kanazawa “Craft Visions”.

The exhibition title VOIDS refers to the round spaces that appear in every one of Soda’s works and this empty space is the core for his creative motivation. Soda once commented, “I was fascinated by the sight of light leaking through the gaps between the trees and shining under the calm sky”. He manifested the beauty of this scene and his feeling towards these glimpses of light in his early works. Over the years, however, he added philosophical meaning in these empty spaces. The act of creating the round spaces could be interpreted as an artist’s prayer that he could be free from negative things or to free himself.

Soda began using glass in his creations and he has moved to stoneware as it enables him to create his ideas more freely. Using a casting method which is quite unique to ceramic creation, he is creating shapes which would always surprise the viewers with their beauty.  Soda’s works are not abstract. On the contrary, the artist’s aim is to make phenomena in nature tangible for us through those curves and repetitions. Even though it has organic forms, these forms are unique in the sense that you do not find any reference in nature, and yet his works are very comfortable to the viewers. Soda’s works exhibit a very unique beauty and sense of calmness, which is what makes them so attractive.

Soda has received the Osaka Mayor’s Award at 75^th Jiyu Bijutsu Art Exhibition in 2011, the New Face Award in Kinki Exhibition at 55^th Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 2016, and the New Face Award of Gendai-Kogei, 56th Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 2017.  His work was accepted at the 4^th Reorganized New Nitten, The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition in 2017,and the 8^th Kikuchi Biennale in 2019. His recent work Lifelight was accepted at the 5^th Triennale of Kogei in Kanazawa “Craft Visions” in 2022. He is currently teaching ceramic art at Nara College of Arts, Japan.

WAMONO ART很榮幸地宣布「虚空」，這是惣田司（生於 1978 年，日本）的首次個展，他是一位在當代陶瓷藝術領域很有前途的日本年輕藝術家。 這是惣田司的首次個展，並首次帶來10件新作。WAMONO ART 被其作品的獨特性和創造性所吸引，從他作為陶瓷藝術家的職業生涯開始就一直與惣田司合作。惣田的作品在兩個被稱為年輕陶瓷藝術家門戶的比賽中被接受：2019年第八屆菊池雙年展和 2022年第五屆金澤工藝三年展“Craft Visions (工藝願景)”。

展覽名稱「虚空」指的是出現在惣田每一件作品中的圓形空間，而這個空曠的空間正是他創作動機的核心。惣田曾評價說：“光從樹縫間漏出，照耀在平靜的天空下的景象讓我著迷” 。他在早期的作品中表現了這一景象的美以及他對這些光影的感受。然而，多年來，他在這些空白空間中加入了哲學意義。創造圓形空間的行為可以被解釋為藝術家的祈禱，他可以從消極的事物中解脫出來，或者釋放自己。

惣田開始在他的創作中使用玻璃，後來他轉向使用石器，因為這使他能夠更自由地創作自己的想法。他採用陶瓷創作中獨有的鑄造方法，創造出總能以其美感驚艷觀眾的造型。惣田的作品並不抽象。相反，藝術家的目的是通過這些曲線和重複讓自然界的現像對我們來說是有形的。儘管它有有機的形式，這些形式是獨一無二的，你在自然界中找不到任何參照物，但他的作品卻讓觀眾感到很舒服。惣田的作品呈現出一種非常獨特的美感和沈穩感，這也是它們如此吸引人的地方。

惣田曾獲2011年第75屆自由美術展大阪市長獎、2016年第55屆日本現代工藝美術展近畿展新人獎、第56屆日本現代工藝美術現代工藝新人獎 2017年新人獎。作品入選第四屆新日展、2017年日本美術展、2019年第八屆菊池雙年展。近期作品《Lifelight（生命之光）》入選第五屆金澤工藝三年展“Craft Visions (工藝願景)” 2022年。他目前在日本奈良藝術大學教授陶藝。