Collection of Works from Sculptor Hirotoshi Ito

The combination of a sublime skill set and a playful imagination is one that has won so many of us previously by the likes of Dali, Warhol and in more recent times Damien Hirst. The art of surrealism reminds us all that the impossible is plausible which is why this playful set of sculptures from Japanese artist Hirotoshi Ito brought such a smile to my face earlier when I discovered his work. Just by taking such a core material as stone and dressing this as an everyday object we wouldn’t expect it to be, Hiroshi throws reality on it’s head in a rather captivating manner.

Although we’re open to the idea of experimentation when it comes to creating clothes, I’m not sure his stone pullover will take off in the near future. It does however highlight Hirotoshi’s ability to delicately carve such an unforgiving material into the most refined of shapes, he really has perfected the form of that collar down to a tee, if you pardon the pun. My favourite piece has to be the mouth in the final image however, as it combines that extra bit of imagination that pulls Hirotoshi’s work into the surrealism bracket.

On the topic of stones we are currently offering a fantastic Lars Muller publication on this very topic in our online shop which I can really recommend. Fellow artist Klaus Merkel has put together 160 page inspiration book which explores the parallels found in both natural and manmade stone constructions. What we have here is perhaps a little more lighthearted but I’m sure if you appreciate this post you will enjoy the book also.

I’ve come across some marvellous sculptors in my time but I think Hirotoshi’s work will stay with me as one of the most memorable artists I’ve seen. Just due to his sheer individual approach, I’ve never seen anything like this before which gives his work a real lasting impact. I hope you all enjoy Hirotoshi Ito’s work as much as I have, if you’d like to learn more about his creations you can do so through his webpage linked just below.

www.jiyuseki.com

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