Kazumi Tanaka
Spring Wind Travels Ten Thousand Miles

April 6 – May 28, 2000

My sculpture emphasizes simplicity. I try to avoid creating complicated work. I have done stone work, and some work with wood and metal. Each new material, natural or man-made, has a potential and a limit which leads me to a new shape and form. Each ahs its own colour, texture and weight. For me, the most important thing is to work with a particular material's basic nature. In this process, a sculptor is merely an assistant helping to pull out the original beauty: the material itself already has artful richness. I give the artistic direction to make it complete as an artwork.

I feel that it is important to deal with materials and shapes/forms as genuinely as possible to try to present a "right" use of materials in our ever commercially distorted world. Although we live in a relatively democratic society, we do not have much visual freedom. We are constantly surrounded with commercial products which, in large, are created for profit or for mere sensation. As consumers, we are constantly surrounded and influenced by these products. If there is a meaningful position for an artist in society, it is to produce beauty.