VOIDS – TSUKASA SODA First Solo Exhibition

WAMONO ART is proud to announce VOIDS, the first solo exhibition by Tsukasa Soda              (b. 1978, Japan), a promising Japanese young artist in the field of contemporary ceramic art. This is the first ever solo exhibition of Tsukasa Soda and brings for the first time 10 new works to an exhibition. Fascinated by the uniqueness and creativity of his works, wamono art has been working with Tsukasa Soda since the beginning of his career as a ceramic artist. Soda’s works were accepted in two competitions which are known as gateways for young ceramic artists: in 2019 for the 8^th Kikuchi Biennale and in 2022 for the 5^th Triennale of Kogei in Kanazawa “Craft Visions”.

The exhibition title VOIDS refers to the round spaces that appear in every one of Soda’s works and this empty space is the core for his creative motivation. Soda once commented, “I was fascinated by the sight of light leaking through the gaps between the trees and shining under the calm sky”. He manifested the beauty of this scene and his feeling towards these glimpses of light in his early works. Over the years, however, he added philosophical meaning in these empty spaces. The act of creating the round spaces could be interpreted as an artist’s prayer that he could be free from negative things or to free himself.

Soda began using glass in his creations and he has moved to stoneware as it enables him to create his ideas more freely. Using a casting method which is quite unique to ceramic creation, he is creating shapes which would always surprise the viewers with their beauty.  Soda’s works are not abstract. On the contrary, the artist’s aim is to make phenomena in nature tangible for us through those curves and repetitions. Even though it has organic forms, these forms are unique in the sense that you do not find any reference in nature, and yet his works are very comfortable to the viewers. Soda’s works exhibit a very unique beauty and sense of calmness, which is what makes them so attractive.

Soda has received the Osaka Mayor’s Award at 75^th Jiyu Bijutsu Art Exhibition in 2011, the New Face Award in Kinki Exhibition at 55^th Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 2016, and the New Face Award of Gendai-Kogei, 56th Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 2017.  His work was accepted at the 4^th Reorganized New Nitten, The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition in 2017,and the 8^th Kikuchi Biennale in 2019. His recent work Lifelight was accepted at the 5^th Triennale of Kogei in Kanazawa “Craft Visions” in 2022. He is currently teaching ceramic art at Nara College of Arts, Japan.