HarukoYamasaki

Haruko Yamasaki is a local metal artist who has been working in Hiroshima for more than 25 years. Born and still living in Ushita, she has never left Hiroshima yet exhibits regularly nationwide and the quality of her work is recognised by Tokyo's finest. Her jewelry and metalware make unique gifts or private treasures. I became interested in her work when I was fortunate enough to have been given a Yamasaki silver and pearl necklace and earrings set, commissioned by friends, as a surprise gift for my wedding. I became interested in her work and followed up by viewing her exhibition.

Is art something you have inherited from your family?
No. My parents were office workers but when I was young I liked to make things, sometimes wood carvings or pottery rice bowls. I didn't get the chance to study art but after marriage my husband recommended that I study something artistic, so I went to an art academy in Hiroshima to study metal art part time for 5 years.

Why metal?
I don't know the real reason but when I was young I had an old ornamental metal chest which I liked very much. I wanted to make something like that.

What kinds of things did you learn there? At first I studied jewelry and other accessories. The teacher taught only jewelry but after 3 years, a new teacher came and he taught me how to make bigger things like vases and copper statues. It was then that my style really changed and became more varied. Do you remember the first thing you made in metal and do you still have it? It was a very simple metal ring I made for myself, but (Laughs) No! I lost it!

Maybe you weren't sentimental about the ring, but have you ever made something special that you couldn't part with or even exhibit?
Oh yes, I made a brooch and a big wine cooler that I would never part with.

What kinds of metal do you mostly use?
Now? Silver, gold and copper. Of course gold is expensive so I seldom make gold jewelry unless I have a custom order to fill. I usually make bigger things in copper and use sheets of copper this size (holds up a thin sheet of metal about the size of a tatami mat). My studio is small and I don't have the machinery to cut these sheets so when I make something big I use a friend's studio.

It looks like you're making something big at the moment, can you tell me about it? Ah, it's a screen (walks over to show me a frame about the same height as herself). I made the frame last year and I will make a new screen for it with these copper bamboo sticks (shows me a couple of beautifully hammered pieces). You must need to use heavy machinery and tools but you are so slight. (Smiles) But I have big power and strong arms. What inspires your work? Everything. I'm always thinking about designs. When I see a tree I think of the shapes of the leaves or the pattern of the bark and how I can put that pattern on a vase. Now I like bamboo so I'm making bamboo. I think of designs for a long time, first on paper but before its finished, I change them many times.

You do a lot of custom-made work. What kind of things are you asked to make?
Mostly jewelry, recently brooches are popular, but also silver and copper bowls. Once, a customer asked me to make earrings from a coral pendant. It had been passed down in the family but she wanted it converted into something she would actually wear.

Do you also take on students?
Yes, now I have 8, they come once a week. Most students tend to be complete beginners but some have studied in other places so there is a range to their experience. They usually want to learn how to make accessories.

It seems you are always busy.
Yes! I work a full day everyday in my studio. Before exhibitions I am busy to prepare and of course afterwards I have many orders so am busy again. If I work all day I can make a fairly simple ring but if I use expensive stones I take a long time to make it very carefully. I have to use the burner so it's very hot in the summer, so I sometimes take a break but if I have an order I work on.

How often do you hold exhibitions?
Every 2 or 3 years. It takes a lot of time to prepare private exhibitions and I often travel outside Hiroshima for them to Fukuoka, Tokyo or Kobe. Also, I send a big piece to Tokyo every year to exhibit at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Japanese Art. I'm always busy around this time of year because the exhibition is at the end of March.

I remember seeing a beautiful copper bowl you exhibited. You mentioned making pottery rice bowls before but how do you think people will use your copper bowls?
I first think of what use the object will have, then design a shape. Perhaps fruit bowls or cake stands or wine coolers. Copper is very difficult to use because you can get metal poisoning if they get wet so you can't use it for cups or eating bowls. Copper is a beautiful colour so it's good ornamentally as you can preserve it from tarnishing by using a thin coating of beeswax.

Which other artists do you admire?
I like this piece named "Oasis" (she flicks through the museum's magazine to a metal statue of a figure holding a cane, clothes swirling in the wind) by Kaoru Watanabe. She is a very young woman - I like her work. The design represents motion and she is very good at expressing movement. This piece is a casting but my work is relief, meaning I hammer out my designs in the metal. Also this work (an angular image of a girl) is by my teacher, Hiroaki Wakayama. It's very simple and sharp, I like this. I love Japanese ink and water "tenkoku" paintings too.

When is your next exhibition?
In April (2005) in Hiroshima's Fukuya Department Store. I will be showing silverware, copperware and jewelry as well as the bamboo screen which I'm sending to Tokyo for March

Watch the event listings for details of her upcoming exhibition in April.

She can be contacted at her studio:
Hiroshima shi, Naka ku, Nishi tokaichimachi, 6-3-301
Tel: (082) 234-8335
(She is a good English speaker but says it's easier to communicate in English via e-mail. Please telephone for her e-mail address).

Interview and Photos thanks to Lorna N

Haruko Yamasaki's Website with pictures and details of her latest work in English and Japanese.