Tomotaka Yasui is the fifth artist to be featured in The Hakone Open-Air Museum's series of exhibitions showcasing young contemporary sculptors.
His signature works are statues of ordinary-looking bob-haired girls in colorful dresses, not a likely subject when considering contemporary sculpture. However, these girls' figures are made using kanshitsu, a technique known in English as dry lacquer, which involves layering the lacquer and moulding it, while their garments are constucted using another unusual technique — raden, or mother-of-pearl and shell inlay.
Yasui takes these Eastern traditions and transforms them in a pop-art-like, friendly manner; Sept. 20-March 1.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum; 1121 Ninotaira, Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimogun, Kanagawa. Chokoku no Mori Stn. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ¥1,600. 0460-82-1161; www.hakone-oam.or.jp
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