We are pleased to present an outdoor sculpture exhibition with works by Masayuki Inoue (b. 1957- ) and Yuki Nakaigawa (b. 1960- ), held along the OAP Sculpture Path in Osaka’s Kita Ward. A deep engagement with clay underlies the production of both artists’ large-scale works, several of which are presented in this open-air setting.
Supple forms that seem to transform on their own accord. The clay’s surface absorbs ambient temperature throughout the day: initially cool and then gradually warming. The works of both artists reveal the deep delight inherent in the “act of shaping” and brim with the earthy, intrinsic allure of the medium of clay. The pulse of the layered forms unfolds like rhymes, sustained by the quiet confidence of skilled craftsmanship.
This open-air exhibition features eight new works, including rounded forms that seem to pile themselves atop plinths, alongside others that resonate subtly with the budding offshoots of the trees lining the OAP Sculpture Path.

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-Artist's statements
Both of us have spent many years working with clay, producing large-scale sculptural works. Inoue maintains a measured distance from his own work, attuned to the subtle cues of the medium, which he internalizes and translates back into form. Nakaigawa draws motifs from humble natural objects, which she abstracts and magnifies into expansive forms.
For this open-air installation, one of the main challenges was how to thoughtfully engage the presence of the prominent plinths, both in relation to the works themselves and the surrounding landscape. Our intention is that each work will settle naturally into place, making use of the plinth’s stature without appearing structurally detached, neither overshadowed by the surrounding trees nor lost amid the pergolas.

Masayuki Inoue / Yuki Nakaigawa

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Masayuki Inoue

As the clay churned between his hands with the rotations of the potter’s wheel, Masayuki Inoue was captivated by the material presence that arose before him, leading him to shift his focus from painting and to pursue ceramics in earnest in the mid-1980s. He draws meaning from the multifaceted dialogue in the creative process between the hand of the maker and the forces of nature: the forms that arise in response to the action of his intent, and the clay’s shifting disposition as it hardens through fire. He allows the material to respond, carefully observing its behavior, and then reworking it into
new forms. These forms Inoue produces range from shaped structures that are broken down into fragments and then reassembled to unfold like three-dimensional drawings in space, to bold, large-scale compositions built from flat panels fastened together with bolts.

Yuki Nakaigawa

Since the late 1980s, Nakaigawa has engaged with clay as her medium of expression, centering around her production of large-scale, voluminous works shaped by hand and fired in the kiln. As Nakaigawa herself puts it, her “inspiration to create derives from encounters with the grotesquely beautiful shapes of the creatures which stir in groves of sawtooth oaks;” she draws from nature to produce genial forms that embody the supple tactility distinctive to ceramics. Her works, composed of subtly varied shapes arranged in series or stacked together, call to mind the life’s nascent forms, such as the seeds of plants and the eggs of insects, and are imbued with a palpable yet elusive presence.

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About the OAP Sculpture Path

The OAP Sculpture Path is located along the waterfront promenade facing the Okawa River that flows through the center of Osaka and is known as the setting for the Tenjin Festival. Every year and a half, the open-air exhibition showcases 8 new sculptures around a theme, and present sculptures of exciting artists working both in Japan and abroad with approachability as our motto.

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