Hanako Rieko Otake

About the productJapanese

Otake has been creating unpainted wood carvings using camphor, cypress, katsura and other woods. His motifs include young girls, birds and animals, and their upright, dignified postures and expressionless, yet profound, strong gazes give them a mystical presence, almost as if they possess spirituality. The appeal of Otake's work lies in the delicacy of the beings that stand amidst the rough-hewn wood. The people, birds and scenes that are like a dream, like a memory from somewhere in the past, connect with the viewer somewhere, spreading their appeal.

This collection traces the evolution of Ohtake's work from his earliest period in 2006 to his latest work in 2022. It also delves into the periphery of his creativity, sprinkling in his first prints, previously unpublished drawings, and scenes from his studio that offer a glimpse into his creative process. The many lives that reside in the hardness and flexibility of wood float in an ambiguous time between life and death, yet have a certainty as if they have been there forever. The detailed binding by Yuri Suyama and text by Toshiyuki Horie and Tsutomu Mizusawa further expand the world of his work.

In a world that has nothing but depth, if we can act as if something has no form even though it does, we too become ghosts. Despite the texture of this heavy, hard wood and the clear lines that make it stand out in space, the whole piece becomes ghostly, teaching us the way of the world, which can shine even without us.
Toshiyuki Horie, "When the soul becomes a bird - A message for the collection of works by Rieko Otake" (contributed text)

For both her works and as an artist, Otake Rieko's place is perhaps the midpoint between inside and outside, like the edge of the water, where the glottal stop sways and shifts.

Tsutomu Mizusawa "Rumbling, buzzing. -- Rieko Otake's place" (from a contributed piece)

Rieko Otake
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1978. Graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts in 2002. Completed the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture in 2004, and completed his doctoral studies in 2007. Currently an associate professor in the Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. Major solo exhibitions include "Where are you from?" (Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, 2021), "Way in, or Out" (8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, 2015), and "Maybe Mimi" (Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, 2012). His major group exhibitions include "Sculpture and House" (Former Hirakushi Denchu Residence Atelier, Tokyo, 2021), "Manazuru Town Stone Sculpture Festival" (Kanagawa, 2021), "Carved Time - Narrative Presence" (Tokyo University of the Arts Museum Exhibition Hall, Tokyo, 2018), "Contemporary Wood Carvings and Netsuke (Overseas Traveling Exhibition)" (Japan Cultural Exchange Center in Vietnam, Hanoi, 2018), "Riddles of Art - Takahashi Collection Exhibition: Resonance or Repulsion?" (Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, 2017), and "Masamichi Katayama's Encyclopedia Lifeishard...Let's go shopping." (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2017). He was selected for the 9th Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art in 2005. His works are held in the Takahashi Collection and the Japigozzi Collection.

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Product Information

Publisher Torch Press

release date 2023

Part numberKART10660W-9784907562397

Specification Specifications: 270 x 220 mm / Hardcover / 152 pages
Written by Toshiyuki Horie and Tsutomu Mizusawa
Design: Yuri Suyama
In cooperation with Tomio Koyama Gallery
Language: Japanese/English

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