![]() ![]() His classmates were local sculptors and pottery makers who stressed the importance of making a living in his craft.Īs a naturalist first, Sugiyama finds the most important aspect of sculpting is to “walk with nature.” As he switched to pursuing an art degree, Sugiyama found himself back in his native element of ancient Japanese art. Sugiyama started to make friends in the local art scene. I didn’t think it’d be my career or profession, but it was my very first time I felt free.”Įnglish teacher Alice Cole was one of Sugiyama’s inspirations in pursuing his art full time and acclimating to the American art world. “When I was taking that art elective, I did not intend to be an artist at all but, after that, I really got into it. “I remember my first sculpture, it was super kindergarten-like, like a fish,” Sugiyama said. Though it was a new step in his artistry, it made him nostalgic of his first run-in with art. A few months ago, Sugiyama finished a 13-foot ceramic owl sculpture. Now Sugiyama’s work reunites with his inner child. Art electives are required for a communications degree, so Sugiyama knocked those classes out with a beginners’ sculpting and info art course. ![]() “I took a journey to the U.S.” He moved to Ashland, Oregon, in 1986 to pursue a degree in communications from Southern Oregon University. “I was drawing blueprints and smoking a cigarette one day, and I just said, ‘Oh, this is just not really my life, and I got to find what I really want to do with my life,’ ” Sugiyama said. One day, in the height of his craft, Sugiyama found himself detached and uninterested when an epiphany ended his seven-year career at one of Japan’s top engineering firms. “This is my contribution to our world.”īorn in Tokyo, Sugiyama began with a career in civil engineering but found that the good pay and long hours depleted his time and energy for other aspects of life. “I truly enjoy exploring the meaning of life through my sculptures,” Sugiyama said. Now Sugiyama will introduce the collection of souls that glitter within his work for Marmot Art Space’s First Friday, making his Inland Northwest debut. “I don’t have a complicated recipe, but my ultimate goal is to make sculptors (come) alive as if their soul or life is in it,” Sugiyama said. A sculptor for the past 30 years, Sugiyama’s works are from natural resources, as his materials range from bronze and clay to stone and ceramics. Japanese sculptor Wataru Sugiyama is a soft, gentle soul living life in browns, navy and stone-colored clothes that match Earth’s elements.
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