KU-42 [FREE ESSENCE 42]

Ikuta Niyoko lives and works in Kyoto and has established herself as one of the leading figures in Japanese glass art of her generation since first exhibiting in the early 1980's. Her method begins with her sketching a form that encapsulates her feelings. The Free-Essence series from which this example is from is based on her contemplation of the Buddhist state of 'emptiness' which can swirl and change in shape. She then uses a glass-cutter to cut thin sheets of plate glass into the desired shape and each plate is then fixed using glue that disappears under ultraviolet light.
The harshness and fragility of glass as a material juxtaposes intriguingly with the finished forms which are dynamic yet at the same time fluid and graceful.

Ikuta's work has entered many international collections including The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT), the Victoria and Albert Museum (Museum no. FE.63-2009), the Musée de Design et d'Arts Appliqués Contemporsins, Lausanne and The Corning Museum of Glass, New York (accession no. 2007.6.5).

Public collections:

Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, UK
Victoria and Albert Museum, UK
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, (MOMAT), Japan
The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
Badisces Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Germany
State Lemberk Chateau Crystalex, Czech Republic
Musée de Design et d'Arts Appliqués Contemporsins (MUDAC), Lausanne, Switzerland
The Boymans-von Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan
Notojima Glass Art Museum, Ishikawa, Japan
Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, USA