MADARA MANJI
CORE
November 13, 2021
INTRODUCTION
MADARA MANJI is a pioneer artist who adopted Mokume-gane (traditional Japanese metalwork) as his creative technique to create metals with distinct patterns.
An amalgamation of various materials, his works are a focal point focused on beaten metals. His forging results in sculptures adorned with abstract patterns that express the complexity of the human psyche.
His works meld and interact with each other, producing both attraction and repulsion. The equilibrium preserves an exquisite visual appearance where every material is addressed; coexisting with one another. Each cube stands precariously tipping on it’s side suggesting the fragility in the continuous struggles of humanity today.
emotions, experiences that are sometimes complex and fragile, but unbreakable.
The artist strives to express this inner strength that we possess in our hearts.
Uncovered Cube
Emotions, experiences, ethics, instincts, and many other
elements combine to create the complexity and charms
of the human spirit embodied in MADARA MANJI's art.
Ambivalence
ABOUT
MADARA MANJI
MADARA MANJI
Madara Manji was born in Tokyo in 1988. To learn toreutic techniques for the foundation of his further works, he moved to Kyoto after graduating from high school and worked as an apprentice under a toreutic master. After years, he aspired to become an artist in developing the foundation in various metal-processing skills and continues to self-learn and present artwork.
Madara Manji creates simple and modern sculpture through mastering Mokume-gane, a traditional Japanese toreutic technique. The development of Mokume-gane began c.400 years ago in the early Edo period. Layers of different metals were stacked together to create exquisite patterns that were decorated on Samurai swords, to symbolize beauty and power. As the Samurai culture faded, the procedure-heavy and time-consuming “Mokume-gane” nearly disappeared, that was until the recent collections and studies conducted by international art museums brought the technique back onto the world stage. Above all, Madara Manji is a pioneer in first adopting the traditional craft as a method to create.
