Hannya Tamotsu is a 16th generation metal master of Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture who creates art using the fukiwake casting technique. Hannya excels in this casting method in which three different metals are individually poured into a mold within five seconds of each other. Due to the different melting points of the three metals, they do not blend together when combined but rather, form unique patterns instead. Hannya is the only artist ever known to have created three-metal cast work. “Hannya Tamotsu is the foremost master of the fukiwake casting technique, artfully weaving together bronze and brass to create works with mysterious patterns,” states Takazu Ishii, Governor of Toyoma Prefecture. In fact, there is a long tradition of metal production in Takaoka which included Buddhist ritual implements and flower vessels and, during the Meiji period, works from the region were submitted to the Paris World Exposition. Hannya is an artist who has not only upheld this tradition but has gone beyond it by creating complex yet elegant, contemporary metal design. In 2016, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Silver Rays from the Emperor of Japan.
Selected Exhibitions
- 2015–2020 Asia Week | New York, US
- 2017 The 64th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition, Japan
- 2016 The 63rd Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition, Japan
- 2014 Extraordinary Kōgei Art and Contemporary Design from Toyama | Onishi Gallery, NY, US
- Selected Public Collections
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York
- National Museum of Modern Art | Tokyo
- Takaoka Art Museum | Toyama, Japan
- Yakushiji Temple | Nara, Japan