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The Japanese artist Yutaka Sone is presently in London showcasing his latest exhibition, Sculpture, at the highly respected David Zwirner gallery, which displays the wide variety of his sculpting work, from intricate marble creations to his tropical palm tree installations.
Now based in LA, Yutaka is a well-known artist for even those who take even a tangential interest in the world of art. A painter, sculptor and one of the best representations the word “artist” connotes. A man whose passion and rich intensity exudes to the point where it’s not only visible in the detail and philosophy behind his work, but simply from standing next to him.
What’s the process of creating pieces out of Marble?
First we extract the rock, then cleaning, lots of cleaning. Then we carve. I have separate studios, one where I cut and carve and the other I paint in.
So would you use one piece of stone for all three?
No that, [he points to Hong Kong Island structure] I made in 1996. The other [Venezia] I made in 2012, so all different pieces of rock are used. The time flies.
How much time would you need to make these?
I need endless time, but you must enjoy time. You know when you’re on a production, time extends because you enjoy the movement. The work itself is very physical. It’s Physical and conceptual, you use your head and hands in different ways.
But it’s all done on a feeling, so I can’t always control the production time.
It’s impressive to see such intricate pieces of work, how do get so much detail in your work?
This one, Manhattan, we cut the palm tree upstairs, [he begins gesticulating] we weave, weave and weave. But what you see here, we cut, cut, cut. Then refine.
Would you say there’s a message behind your work?
Many people are just conceptual; it’s just the idea to make everything! [Laughs] Everything is everything!
How do you know when your work is done?
The sculpture tells me and I have to listen. I can listen, so I’m an artist. It’s until the sculpture says, “I’m done”. Though David Zwirner is good, he really understands my style, so he waits and waits, there’s no pressure. I just keep doing what I do and then when it goes “Ooh, ooh, ooh!” – It’s done.
Is there anything specific that inspires your work?
My imagination. For sculptures, my imagination is very fast; this [Manhattan] is perfect. When the idea comes in like whoosh! It’s very fast, but when it isn’t, it’s a very slow time.
[Yutaka proceeds to gesticulate the motion of a wave; he speeds up the motion and throws his hand to the right transforming into something reminiscent of a Bullet Train.]
It’s like big waves of thought, but painting is a different process.
Is that why you’re doing this sculpture exhibition?
These are things to see, but painting I enjoy more, like training. Every day I paint, new palm trees for different projects … Let’s go to the second floor.
[Yutaka proceeds to lead me upstairs, the spiral staircase echoing the unraveling of his thoughts.]
So this show is a post-year entry, downstairs is cutting [My Paintings] this is art. I deconstruct human production itself. All of this is human production – everything is cut and art, right?
[We enter the first room on the second floor; inside standing tall is his a new sculpture from his Canary Island series.]
So what do we have here?
So this, this is the weaving I was talking about. This is a Spanish technology, I found this in La Jara, Mexico. This is long before steel technology came into common knowledge – it’s an old ancient style. We started this about five years ago, but it’s become much more independent. We have a team based in Mexico that helps us. It’s been tough at times; the process is a lot like that [Bob Marley] song, Get up, Stand up! (Laughs). Something like that for five years!
Most people stick to one style they’re good with, but why do you choose to do more than one type of sculpture?
You can see there’s an obvious difference between this and the marble. I like an, how to say it, a really edgy, extreme style of creation. It took a long time to find this weaving method, but it intrigued me when I did. It’s a feeling I had to go with.
What’s it like have your work recognised on this level?
It’s nice don’t you think so? (Laughs). I have a great team around me to get here, a very healthy team, that’s very important. I always enjoy making things, so I can’t wait to make more. I’ll keep listening to my work and showing you when it’s done.
by Kashman Harris
Photography by Justin van Vliet
Yutaka Sone, David Zwirner London, 24 Grafton Street, 27 November 2013 – 25 January 2014,