ISAO SUGIYAMA

Isao Sugiyama was born in Japan in 1954

Sugiyama studies at the University of Art in Tokyo-Zokei where he majored in sculpture in 1977, in 1983 he took his degree of specialization at the same university, always in 1983, he moved to Italy in order to visit a course of sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti at Carrara Italy and graduated in 1990.

The artistic life of Isao Sugiyama is closely linked to the artist himself, his culture, Japanese tradition, and great respect for nature and his cultural and spiritual world. Sugiyama works marble without transforming it, but gradually helping it progress from the purely natural state to the unexpected whiteness inside, revealing transparencies which magically allow the light to pass through; tiny diaphragms which transfix the eye and the heart. He works soft, pale, light wood which harmonises perfectly with the whiteness of marble, a material which should be in complete contrast, but which seems to be its natural extension. Sugiyama becomes an instrument for the celebration of spirituality, creating small temples in inaccessible places, tiny sanctuaries which welcome our soul; Sugiyama shows us an impassable path, steep stairs, very narrow bridges, impossible climbs. A difficult road, the same which we travel during our lives, at the end of which, in the Silence of the Soul, we can find ourselves. Sugiyama celebrates Nature, paying homage through himself and this is the most spiritual, deeply meaningful poetry that an Artist can create, using his own sensitivity and his hands.

Sugiyama have had many personal exhibitions in public spaces, foundations and museums in Italy and abroad as: Os Norway, Mishima Japan, Shanghai China, Brussels Belgium, London UK, Metropolitan Museum Tokyo Japan, Paris France, Iwate Japan, Civic Museum Paris Valle Maccagno Italy, Seoul Museum of Art Seoul Korea, Museum Crocetti Roma Italy, Museum of Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara Italy, Laren Holland, HakoneJapan, MishimaJapan, New York USA, San Francisco, USA, Embassy of Japan Rome Italy, Museum National Gallery of Modern Art and The Japan Foundation Rome Italy