この度PARCELでは、1月27日(土)より彫刻家 藤原彩人の個展「Figurative Structures」を開催いたします。2023年度、第34回タカシマヤ美術賞、受賞後としては初、新作を含めた個展となります。

1975年に京都で生まれた藤原は、現在、栃木県益子を拠点に制作活動を行っております。循環や流動をテーマに、人間と自然、物質と空間、光と影、軸と周囲といった 様々な事象や関係性を構造的につなげ、一貫して人体をテーマに作品を作っておりますが、過去作の具象的なフォルムから出発しながらも、近年では「軸」と「周囲」に関心を寄せ、単純な図形の立体的な組み合わせによって構成された抽象的な表現を探求しております。轆轤の上で土の中心が立ち上がるにつれ、周囲になりそれが質量を包みフォルムが成立することと、人体の臓器とその外壁の関係性を感じたと言います。

「焼成と施釉を伴う土の造形によって、「人体／生体としての彫刻」が眼前に立ち現れる姿を追い求めてきた藤原彩人。

土、水、火、空気、鉱物、さらに重力に関わるその作品表現が、私たちが今を生きる地球と相関的であるという事実は、近年の制作を貫く造形理念として指摘できるだろう。

通常、人体の形象が担保する固有のスケールは、自然の風景としての抽象形態をその身に纏う藤原の彫像においては、スケールの概念それ自体を超出する事態をもたらしてきた。

最新作となる〈像化―Planets on the Planet―〉においてそれは、人体であり、ランドスケープであり、かつ惑星であるという複数の像／イメージの入れ子状の構造化によって果たされており、四半世紀にわたり、彫刻と陶芸の境界領域で人体の存在のあり様を探求してきた作家の現在地を指し示している。」 

– 千葉市美術館　森 啓輔 氏 / 本展へ向けたテキストより一部抜粋

藤原作品においてはその造形的な異質さもさることながら、本展に合わせて寄稿いただいた森氏のコメントにもあるように、彫刻と陶芸、人体と自然、具象と抽象の間を行き来し探求し続けた作家の現在地をぜひご覧いただきたいと思います。

PARCEL is pleased to announce “Figurative Structures,” a solo exhibition by sculptor Ayato Fujiwara, opening January 27th, Saturday. This will be his first solo exhibition of new works by the artist since winning the 34th Takashimaya Art Award in 2023.

Fujiwara was born in Kyoto in 1975 and currently lives and works in Mashiko, Tochigi. He has been consistently working on the theme of the human body, structurally connecting various events and relationships such as human and nature, material and space, light and shadow, axis and surroundings, on the theme of circulation and fluidity. In recent years, while departing from the figurative forms of his past works, he has been exploring abstract expressions composed of three-dimensional combinations of simple shapes. He says that as the center of the clay rises on the potter’s wheel, it envelops the surrounding area, forming a mass which enables him to feel the relationship between the organs of the human body and their outer walls. 

“Through the formation of clay accompanied by firing and glazing, Ayato Fujiwara has pursued the manifestation of “sculpture as the human body/biosphere” that stands vividly before the eyes. His artistic expression involving earth, water, fire, air, minerals, and gravity is pointedly interconnected with the Earth we currently inhabit, serving as a guiding principle in his recent creations. Typically, the inherent scale guaranteed by the imagery of the human body has led to a situation transcending the concept of scale itself in Fujiwara’s sculptures, which drape abstract forms as natural landscapes over the human form. In his latest work, “Embodiment – Planets on the Planet,” this is achieved through a nested structure of multiple images, portraying the human body, landscape, and planet simultaneously. This work signifies the current position of the artist who, for a quarter of a century, has explored the nature of human existence in the borderland between sculpture and ceramics.”

— Keisuke Mori (Curator, Chiba City Museum of Art), excerpt from the text for this exhibition.

In Fujiwara’s works, the artistic heterogeneity is notable, and as mentioned in the text contributed by Mr. Mori for this exhibition, we invite you to see the current position of the artist who has continuously explored the interplay between sculpture and ceramics, the human body and nature, and the realms of figurative and abstract.