Kojiro Yoshiaki

What I want to express in my work is the most dynamic state in which a structure or form can be. As a material, it has been my great fortune to encounter foaming glass, with its uncontrollable expansions and deflation.

I combine glass powder with a foaming agent, such as calcium carbonate or copper oxide in a fireproof plaster mold, and then fire it for casting at around 820°C in an electric kiln. The melting glass confines the gas that the additive releases inside, and the mold is filled with foamed glass gradually — like baking bread. I open the door of the kiln to abruptly solidify the foaming glass. Although the piece cools quickly, it retains its shape, but has become a porous lump of glass with strong tensile stresses from forcibly stopping the expansion. I remove the plaster mold and fire the piece again for slumping at around 700°C. The tensile stresses are released, causing shrinking and cracking. The glass collapses under its own weight, and the spaces between the porous parts merge.

I have come to conclude that this transformation is a life cycle. In the natural world, objects are always changing. As transformed materials are exposed to air or heat, they change in appearance or texture at their own pace. However, when compared to other materials, it is said that glass is artificial and does not age. My goal is to create forms that express transformation and the natural properties of glass.

BIO/CV

b. 1968, Chiba, Japan

Kojiro Yoshiaki began his career as an architect at Tokyo University of Science. In his thirties, after experimenting with foamed glass as an architectural material, he decided to make a career change and became a glass artist. His scientific, regimented approach has led him to create work that captures the textural movement of glass, seemingly frozen in time.

Kojiro’s work has been featured in many solo, duo, and group exhibitions since 2001. His recent awards include an honorable mention at the LOWE Craft Prize, the Ropez International Prize, and the Bavarian State Prize at the Internationale Handwerksmesse Munich.

Kojiro’s process includes grinding glass into a fine powder, combining it with foaming agents, firing it in a kiln, and rapidly cooling the glass. While this process is strictly regimented, the shape of the final product is left up to chance. “My work is to present a product that is formed by the interaction of glass, tiny bubbles, heat, and gravity. It is my greatest interest to extract structure from this process, and through my works, I hope to emphasize suggestion rather than description.”

Education

2003

Post Graduate Study, Tokyo Glass Art Institute, Kanagawa, Japan
1994

M.Eng. in Architecture, Tokyo University of Science, Chiba, Japan
1992

B.Eng. in Architecture, Tokyo University of Science, Chiba, Japan

Experience

2012 – 2016

Lecturer, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan
2010

Invited artist, CAMGERAN 2010 Applied Glass Symposium, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey
1994 – 2000

Gendaikeikaku Architectural & Planning Office, Tokyo, Japan

Awards & Fellowships

2017

Special Mention, LOEWE Craft Prize
2016

Honorable Mention, The International Exhibition of Glass, Kanazawa, Japan
2015

Ropex International Prize, Glass ’15 in Japan
2012

Young Generation Prize, Glass ’12 in Japan
Prize winner, “OBJECT,” International Glass Prize 2012, Glazen Huis, Lommel, Belgium
Gold Medal, Bavarian State Prize, International Trade Fair, Munich, Germany
2008

Honorable Mention, Dai-ichi Museum Contemporary Glass Competition, Aichi, Japan
2006

4th Chiba City Art and Culture New Artist Award, Chiba, Japan
2004

Grand Prize, The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
2003-06

Fellowship, Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo, Glass Workshop, Ishikawa, Japan

Select Solo & Two Person Exhibitions

2019

Two person exhibition (with Yasuhiro Kado), New Century Craft Museum, Seto City⠀
2017

Solo exhibition, Ginza Bricks Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Formes en blank (with Bae Sejin), MOUVEMENTS MODERNES, Paris, France
Two person exhibition (with Tomohiro Kano), Tokyo Gallery+BTAP, Japan
2015

Solo exhibition, Gallery O2, Tokyo, Japan
2014

Solo exhibition, Gallery AN, Ibaraki, Japan
2013

Two person exhibition (with Runa Kosogawa), Gallery NOW, Toyama, Japan
Solo exhibition, Ginza Bricks Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Solo exhibition, Gallery O2, Tokyo, Japan
2012

Solo exhibition, Gallery Tsubaki, Chiba, Japan
2011

Solo exhibition, Ginza Bricks Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Solo exhibition, Isogaya i. space, Tokyo, Japan
2010

Two person exhibition (with Masao Kozumi), Grass Hopper GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
Solo exhibition, Gallery Tsubaki, Chiba, Japan
2009

Solo exhibition, café & galerie NAJA, Chiba, Japan
Solo exhibition, Galleria ACCa, Tokyo, Japan
2008

Solo exhibition, Gallery Tsubaki, Chiba, Japan
2007

Solo exhibition, café & galerie NAJA, Chiba, Japan
2006

Solo exhibition (curated by Motohiko Fujii), Art Interactive Tokyo, Japan
2005

Solo exhibition, Gallery Yukomori, Nagano, Japan
2004

Solo exhibition, Gallery ES, Tokyo, Japan

Select Group Exhibitions

2017

Loewe Craft Prize Exhibition, COAM, Madrid, Spain (travelled to Chamber Gallery, New York, NY, 21_21 Design Sight, Tokyo, Japan)
TRESOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT (curated by ESH GALLERY), Messe Basel, Switzerland
Kokoro – Japanisches Glas heute, Glasmuseum Frauenau, Germany
Sincerity 2017: Korea Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition, Gangneung Museum of Art, S. Korea
lebenswelt | life-world, Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Munich, Germany
2016

Contemporary Glass Representation Exhibition vol.2, Dai-ichi Museum, Aichi, Japan
Sincerity 14+14: Korea Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, Tokyo, Japan
2015

I’ve Got Glass! I’ve Got Life!, Toyama Glass Art Museum (Inaugural Exhibition), Japan
Tama Art University Glass Works, Tama Art University Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo 25^th Anniversary Exhibition, Kanazawa, Japan
2014

iGlass: Japanese contemporary glass exhibition, LEVANT ART, Shanghai, China
COLLECT (curated by Exhibition Space APJ), Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
The Method of 4 Creators, Session House, Tokyo, Japan
The futurology of glass molding, Gallery O2, Tokyo, Japan
2013

+7 exhibition, Office339, Shanghai, China
2012

The Manifestations of Method (curated by Masayuki Hashimoto), Gallery Ryokurinkan, Saitama, Japan
Modern Masters (curated by Handwerkskammer), International Trade Fair, Munich, Germany
2011

Sumi-paintings by Toko Shinoda and Contemporary Glass Works, Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan
The Metamorphosis of Glass, Gallery VOICE, Gifu, Japan
2010

16 Glass Objects, ORIE Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
FROZEN-IN TENSION, Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Munich, Germany
The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Korinbo-Daiwa & Notojima Glass Art Museum, Japan
2009

Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Kanazawa, Japan
The Metamorphosis of Glass, Gallery VOICE, Gifu, Japan
61in3 + 1/8, Gallery Ten, Ishikawa, Japan
New Glass Review 31, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
ART SELECTION NOW vol.3, Gallery NOW, Toyama, Japan
2008

New Glass Review 30, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
AACA +7 exhibition, Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
2007

The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Korinbo-Daiwa & Notojima Glass Art Museum, Japan
Allure of Japanese Glass (curated by Harumi Yukutake & Tomoko Aoki), Pittsburgh Glass Center, PA
AACA +7 exhibition, Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
2006

The 8th Oita Asian Sculpture Exhibition, Asakura Fumio Memorial Hall, Oita, Japan
VESSELS, Koganezaki Glass Museum, Shizuoka, Japan
2005

TOYAMURA International Sculpture Biennale, Toya General Center, Hokkaido, Japan
2nd Contemporary Glass Triennial, Toyama Civic Plaza Art Gallery, Toyama, Japan
New Glass Review 27, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
2004

2nd Contemporary Glass Art Exhibition 2004 in ONODA, Onoda Sun Park, Yamaguchi, Japan

Select Collections

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
The European Museum of Modern Glass, Coburg, Germany
Ernsting Stiftung Alter Hof Herding, Coesfeld, Germany
Contemporary Glass Arts Museum, Eskisehir, Turkey
The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Munich, Germany
Lommel City, Belgium
Dai-ichi Museum, Aichi, Japan
Toyama Glass Art Museum, Toyama, Japan
Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo, Ishikawa, Japan