Yoshitomo Saito in Sculpture

Jessie:
Sculpture, Jan/Feb 2006, Vol 25 No1, pages 30 - 35
Image from: www.hainesgallery.com
Yoshitomo Saito is a Japanese artist who casts bronze sculptures using the lost wax technique. Originally a glassblower he changed his medium after moving to America in the 1980's. He says "Briefly I thought I should build installations or make videos like Bill Viola. But then I sensed the invisible concensus that any traditional methods in practise in sculpture were going to be obsolete and I rebelled against that."
What caught my eye was the work in the foreground of this picture. It is called When the wind blows and although it looks like a tumbleweed, I like its permanence - there is no way that this is going to move with the breeze. Saito has also done a series of bronze pillows, which are beautifully plumped and slumped and creased (they reminded me a bit of Polly's beds from Foundation), and a series of unfolded take away containers and cardboard boxes called Imagiro, which he describes as "reverse origami". Check out the journal for images of these.