7 minute read
Japanese Ar�st uses So� Clay to carve Hyper Realis�c Clothing Hidrėlėy
Japanese sculptor Masami Yamamoto uses so� clay to carve stunning garments. From socks to shirts and underwear—her
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crea�ons appear astonishingly real and are on display in exhibi�ons.
Masami’s crea�ons are o�en based on in�mate clothing as a means of poten�ally crea�ng portraits of the owners of the said items.
While there is an impressive dedica�on to realism—Yamamoto is careful to detail each delicate fold of the clothing as she doesn’t use any pre-made moulds for her sculptures.
Instead, Masami studies each reference making sure to recreate it as closely as possible.
Talking to Masami Yamamoto to find out a li�le bit more.
“My works are created by hand sculp�ng from scratch, this means that I sculpt my works from a mass of so� ceramic clay. Then I place them in an oven for high-temperature cooking."
We took the chance and asked the ar�st if she had any major influences in her life that might've helped her to develop and refine her style.
"When I was a student in a college of art in Japan, one of the closest people to me got a life-threatening disease. When I went to meet her in a hospital on Christmas Eve, many people were also figh�ng against a deadly illness to survive while other people were happily going home to celebrate Christmas Eve with their friends, lovers, and family. When I was riding a train back, I felt as if I was in a totally different world from them. On the surface, people on the train on Christmas Eve
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looked so happy, but then I realised that each person might have a deep story covered in their daily lives, and I couldn’t know about it. Due to this experience, I began to imagine the lives of others. I have come to want to touch the feeling of being alive and I want to convey the existence of human beings living in the present age through my works."
Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of �me not only to prac�ce but also to produce, therefore we asked Masami how long it takes her to fully finish her artworks.
"Usually, I start by observing old garments and pu�ng them beside me as a reference. The �me I take to finish one piece of artwork, of course, depends on the work itself. It changes depending on the size of the garment, and some details on the work have their own wrinkles, folds, and deforma�ons that are le� like traces of people’s memory who once wore the garments. It also takes more �me if the garments also have some part of embroidery, lace, and any other minor but delicate details.
It’s difficult to tell the exact produc�on period. It can take several days or about two weeks for small pieces. It takes about a month and a half for middle-sized pieces, and several months for bigger pieces or for pieces with finer details. These periods are just for forming and carving. A�er this process, I have to dry them very slowly and make a firing in a kiln. It also takes up some �me."
Being an ar�st is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspira�on, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask Yamamoto about her ideas for the series.
"The source of my inspira�on for my artwork comes from my daily life. There isn’t any special way to pass my daily life but there are some feelings or emo�ons that accumulate unconsciously throughout the day as I experience life as it is.
These feelings and emo�ons help me get a concrete shape when I encounter something that amplifies them. It may be texts or data I find in books, an art exhibi�on, or simply just an observa�on of events happening in my
daily life. I also tend to write in my notebook— it’s just some words or short phrases that catch something essen�al and important for each work of mine."
As we men�oned before, some�mes crea�ve work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the ar�st how she dealt with that as well.
"In my case, the answer is a definite yes! I o�en face various difficul�es in my ar�s�c ac�vi�es.
I will tell you an easy story that will help you understand what it’s like to be burned out. As I work mainly with ceramic materials as a contemporary ar�st, the idea is, of course, important, but there’s also a certain level of technique and knowledge about material and firing that is required. When I challenge myself to start a new series, I’m always subjected to failure. I never know if the piece will be well finished un�l the moment when I open the door of the kiln to finally get pieces out. When I fail a piece that I took a lot of �me to sculpt, or it exploded in the kiln, I take �me to recover myself for a while…"
We also asked Masami about how people reacted to her work.
"Most people look at my installa�ons and are surprised that this work is made of ceramic and is also hand-carved. Some people tend to pass by thinking that they are ordinary clothes placed in the art exhibi�on.
To tell the truth, I’m not interested in hyperrealism and its techniques. I mean, realism is a way of expression and its techniques are just one of the means to get an expression of density in our lives and to reach deep feeling concerning human existence. I'm more interested in the transi�on of materials, from so� and fragile cloths to solid ceramic. My goal is to change our sensa�ons over �me. I hope that this transi�on makes viewers rediscover fresh and new feelings about our life�me and memory of being alive."
The crea�ve process is not easy, but there are some enjoyable parts about it.
"It feels great when I finish se�ng up my work and I feel that I can offer a good exhibi�on. It’s one of the few moments when I can feel peace in my heart in an ar�st’s life. I’m also very excited when I can come up with a good idea. And of course, I also enjoy sculp�ng before finishing a piece."
We also asked about the inspira�on behind the ar�st's Instagram account.
"I've started to use Instagram lately. When I returned to my work as an ar�st a�er having my first child in 2018, I felt the necessity to have a way to get people to know my artworks more (besides exhibi�ons) as I have less �me to work than before thanks to my new rou�ne as a mother.
Being able to have reac�ons of people across countries in the world through Instagram also gives me joy and fun."
Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of pa�ence, �me, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented ar�st started her own career sculp�ng.
"I started my ceramic series concerning people’s portraits and memories of their existence around 2011. This series was evaluated and got prizes in a few art compe��ons in Japan. From around 2014 and un�l now, I have been able to get new opportuni�es and exhibi�ons con�nuously as an ar�st mainly in Tokyo, Japan. I’d like to have opportuni�es to par�cipate in exhibi�ons and discover people and their daily lives in many other countries in the future! For example, in Lithuania! That would be nice!
The ceramic work series is my most well-known work, but I would like to show my works and ideas from mul�ple perspec�ves and in many different ways. Right now, in the last year, I’ve been trying to work on a new series where I’m working with old garments and old clothes directly."
More info: yamamotomasami.com
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