Opening: Hiroshi Yamano – Scenes of Japan, at Lew Allen Galleries this Friday

Hiroshi Yamano, Scene of Japan #18, 2010. Blown/sculpted Glass, Silver Engraving, Copper Plating. H 9 1/4, W 7 3/4, D 4 3/4 in.

Opening at the Lew Allen Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the evening of Friday, June 4^th is an exhibition of the work of Hiroshi Yamano entitled “Scenes of Japan.” Yamano is a Japanese artist who studied at the California College of Arts, the Tokyo Glass Art Institute, the Pilchuck School of Glass, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned his MFA in 1989. The exhibition will run through June 27^th.

Hiroshi Yamano, Scene of Japan #13, 2010. Blown/sculpted Glass, Silver Engraving, Copper Plating. H 4 3/4, W 16 1/4, D 14 3/4 in.

Yamano’s work exhibits rich and attractive colors that layer upon themselves, emulating the naturally occurring coloration found in aquatic environments. The imagery found in his work seems to be largely re-occurring, depicting fish, flowers, and other life forms on magnificently shaped vessels. While the vessels may not be functional, they tend to share the same evolving themes of Japanese art-making: tradition/change, isolation/openness, and personal/national identity. For Yamano, the fish symbolizes movement, something the aritst is well acquainted with through his journeys around the world to study and make his work.

The fluidity and layering in many of his pieces help to evoke feelings of contrast, showcasing both the flow of uniformity and the chaos of individuality. Much of the work depicts groupings of fish that seem to rush by feverishly, which, in contrast, are accompanied by individual elements that seem to lay still in their surroundings in apparent appreciation for the simplest elements of their environment. This underlying contrast is no doubt a byproduct of Yamano’s countless travels and studies all around the world.

The fact that Yamano’s vessels are unusable helps to bridge the Japanese tradition of embracing both finely made decorative artworks with little regard for the Western hierarchies that devalue functionality, and the Western need for purely sculptural objects. In Japanese culture, there is less of a separation between finely made objects of all varieties. Yamano’s clearly sculptural work blends the concerns of both cultures into works with complex layers of meaning.

-Sage Vega

IF YOU GO: