Yukito Nishinaka
After graduating from a pharmacy college in Tokyo, he became fascinated with glass and studied sculpture and glass art at the California Institute of the Arts. His experience of living outside of Japan has taught him a great deal about Japanese identity and culture.
Inspired by the words of Okakura Tenshin in his book "The Book of Tea," "Only those who have perfected the beauty of imperfection within themselves can find true beauty," he has been pursuing her own unique beauty.
Dedicated a Karesansui garden made of recycled glass to Honenin Temple in Kyoto.
His work of "Yobitsugi" (repairing missing parts with other parts) was collected by the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxforda and the Victoria and Albert Museum , England.
Every year for about two months, he embarks on a journey to reset the past, and has traveled to 54 countries around the world.
Since 2002, he has been melting glass in the countryside of Chiba Prefecture, maintaining a distance from urban life while continuing to create works of art. It features an innovative design in which pure gold peeks through bold cracks.
The shimmering form of the softly molten glass is a handcrafted form. The glass shining like an aurora borealis is like light itself, a mirror reflecting the heart. Breaking the vessels he created, he creates new beauty by connecting the shards.
Based on the philosophy of “Kintsugi", a unique Japanese aesthetic that uses gold to emphasize the defects of cracks and turn them into charms, "Yobitsugi of Glass" is the one and only contemporary expression interpreted by him.
It would be my greatest pleasure if you could feel the radiance of life in the cracks of the vessels, which could be called fatal wounds, just as you can see the light by looking at the shadows.
The Golden Studio is located in Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture, on the Boso Peninsula. The clear blue sky and brilliant sunshine are similar to those of California on the other side of the country, where I studied glass and art. The spacious studio surrounded by rice fields used to be a rose garden, where you can enjoy your own time and space undisturbed by anything.
In summer, the sound of cicadas and frogs, in autumn, a chorus of bell bugs, and in contact with flowers and fruit trees, I freely pursue my artistic expression. It is located only about an hour or so from Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, and Ginza.
2021 Circular Award Circular Energy Prize
2020 Gold Prize, World Media Festivals, Hamburg, Germany
2013 CREATIVE HACK AWARD 2013 Graphic Award, WIRED
2011 Okuwa Cultural Encouragement Award (Okuwa Foundation for Education and Culture)
2008 Wakayama City Cultural Encouragement Prize
1997 Grand Prize, The 1st Contemporary Glass Art Exhibition in Satsuma, Satsuma, Japan