Haruo Mitsuda – A Journey of Intricate Evolution

Hirayama Ikuo Museum of Art

Finished

Artists

Haruo Mitsuta, Ikuo Hirayama

During the peaceful Edo period (1603–1867) when the demand for armor plunged, craftsmen turned to creating articulated figurines called "jizai okimono." These metal representations of creatures such as birds and snakes could be made to move freely, as if they were alive.

Haruo Mitsuda became an apprentice of jizai okimono maker Muneyuki Tomiki while a student in the Crafts Department at Tokyo University of the Arts. An insect lover to the extent that the countryside was his playground from childhood, Mitsuda was so dexterous that he could fold origami cranes out of paper only five square milimeters in size. His works created through detailed observations of insects and intricate craftsmanship have been called "life that happens to be born in metal." His creations manifesting the evolution of traditional techniques will be presented with the work of Ikuo Hirayama, a painter who traveled the Silk Road in search of the origins of Japanese culture.

Schedule

Jul 23 (Sat) 2022-Sep 16 (Fri) 2022