Yasuaki Onishi, Japanese artist-installer
I studied art in Japan. First I graduated from one of the oldest national universities in the country, the Universities of Tsukuba, and then continued my studies at the University of Art and Design in Kyoto, where I studied sculpture specifically.
About the exhibition
I'm in Astana for the first time. The idea of the exhibition was born in March last year, when I met Leila Mahat, director of Kulanshi ArtSpace, at my exhibition in Israel. Then Leila invited me to Kazakhstan to show some of my works. I liked this idea, and I decided to come.
The work is quite massive for transportation, therefore, unlike other sculptors who can create work once and then transport it from city to city for exhibitions, I need to create them anew every time.
My sculpture is only alive for the duration of the exhibition.
After its termination the work is destroyed. Used materials, trees, glue and everything else we collect in the area where the show runs. For example, these trees were collected in the vicinity of Astana. In particular, the exhibition "Vertical Emptiness" visited the UAE, France, Sweden, Taiwan and many other cities. All those who see these sculptures connect them with their memories, but more often people share that they have seen such trees in their dreams.
About the idea of sculpture
According to the idea, apart from our real world, there is a parallel world that is invisible to us. And between these worlds there is some space — emptiness. My imagination sees this emptiness exactly as this sculpture is depicted. To create sculptures, I brought my assistant with me. We arrived on the first of April and from that day we work on the sculpture every day, from ten in the morning till six in the evening. In total, the creation of the work will take about 12 days of continuous work.
To create such an effect, we hang the trees in an inverted state and then cover them with several layers of liquid glue using a special gun. Later we spray a mixture of carbamide and water. Carbamide is the substance that, after drying, forms crystals on the trees, creating such a unique visual effect.
In addition to this sculpture at the exhibition, you can see a few of my paintings and small sculptures on a similar theme.
