My sculpture combines natural stone and wood to create harmony by integrating the life of wood with the simplicity and purity of natural stone. I begin by finding stones in riverbeds and mountains in California, and keep the stones until I am ready to integrate them with the chosen wood. The process of unifying these two materials, by specific selection and by accidental match, results in unexpected and endless possibilities.
Working with wood and stone is very familiar to me, having been born and raised in a traditional Japanese-style wooden house, in a small town near the Japan Alps, surrounded by mountains, rivers, and forests. Twenty-five years of building and designing houses in the Bay Area developed my aesthetic sensibility and my understanding of the relationship between an object and the surrounding space.
The use of natural rocks in my art originates from suiseki, a Japanese form of stone appreciation that has over a thousand years of history. We invite you to join us here to study and discuss suiseki art, both traditional Japanese suiseki and new forms of natural stone art.