Feathered Memory (2025) Sculptuur door Mina Yoya

I was born in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, a small Japanese city with over four centuries of metalcraft heritage. Workshops bursting with sparks are a common sight here—my family’s copper studio included. My father is a traditional copper sculptor, and my mother teaches ikebana. Since childhood, I’ve been surrounded by the sharp rhythm of chasing hammers and the serene silence of flower arranging on tatami mats. These contrasts nurtured a deep sensitivity in me to the relationships between material, texture, color, and emotion.
I studied metalwork at Tokyo University of the Arts, where I spent my early years mastering traditional techniques. I still the weight, rhythm, and warmth of each hammer strike when chasing patterns onto copper. Working with metal brought me a sense of calm, yet I began to yearn for ways to go beyond a single medium—to express the nuanced, layered emotions within me more freely.
This desire led me to pursue further studies at the California College of the Arts, where I found the courage to experiment with new materials and hybrid approaches. I started combining translucent resin with metal, fascinated by the visual tension between clarity and weight. I delicately applied traditional Japanese gold leaf techniques to resin and bone, breathing a fluid, living quality into rigid forms. I embedded hand-cut, polished crystals into my sculptures, allowing them to shimmer softly under ambient light. Over time, my process evolved into a dialogue between materials, and I became a medium through which they could balance and speak.
Living abroad gave me new perspectives on cultural memory and human connection. In Angkor Wat, Cambodia, I exchanged thoughts with local artisans on the erosion of stone and time. During Chiang Mai Design Week, I collaborated with emerging Asian artists to explore how contemporary expression can harmonize with classical aesthetics. These moments deepened my understanding of wabi-sabi—the Japanese sensibility that embraces impermanence and beauty—and helped me realize that art’s true power lies in its ability to resonate with the human soul.
Returning to my studio in Japan, I knew what I wanted to express: a sincere meditation on life and transience, on the emotional resonance between finite human experience and the vast rhythms of nature. My works feature translucent resin-cast animal skeletons, adorned with hand-chased metal forms, delicate gold leaf, and glimmering crystal fragments. These materials serve as metaphors—fragile yet strong, ephemeral yet eternal. I try to infuse each piece with a gentle, flowing emotion, like a silent poem that whispers our shared experiences of longing, tenderness, vulnerability, and hope.
In recent years, my works have been exhibited at Supermarket Art Fair in Stockholm, UNKNOWN ASIA in Osaka, and Kyoto Design Week. When I quietly watch viewers pause and gaze at my pieces in those spaces, I feel art’s deepest connection: the moment two solitary souls meet in honesty.

• Nationaliteit: JAPAN
• Geboortedatum : onbekende datum
• Artistieke domeinen:
• Groepen: Hedendaagse Japanse Artiesten