造形作家・櫻井正一とコリーンの手漉き和紙の世界。廃材や古民具などの捨てられたモノを、独自の観点で再生の美に挑む。

Re-Art Charity Project

Just for fun,
I made, for myself,
a pendant cut from a discarded power blender.
It received a lot of attention.
That was the beginning of this project.

In eighteen years, as an artist, I have created everything from object to clothing. I strongly feel as if there is too much needless waste in the world, and as a recycle artist, I want to do my small part to change that. There are many, so called, "beautiful things" around us, but it is also possible to discover beauty even in the neglected and abandoned.

Wearable Art

Each of the 88 pieces in the "Re-Art Charity Project" are related to, and carry the same "DNA" as, the discarded De'Longhi's aluminum power blenders they were conceived from. My main emphasis was to allow the aluminum's distinctive features and characteristics to shine through, yet create as many technical and creative variations as I could, to give each and every piece its own "face," its own identity and personality. In the initial stages, my work tends to be conceptual, constructing each part of the design in my head, and then, finally, into a finished work. Generally, the completed creation doesn't change very much from the original idea. This project took a different turn. The kind of "divine intervention" that occurred when the elements of fire and aluminum were combined created an effect I never expected. I quickly realized that as much as I tried to control certain variables of the process, ultimately the result was different every time. It was a timely process and many, many, attempts before I achieved the exact effect I was looking for, and there were those magical times when the outcome even exceeded my expectations. This project, for me, was always fascinating, at times frustrating, and ultimately, truly fulfilling. Metal jewelry is generally limited in size because of weight, and expense, but, in this case, because of the accessibility and lightness of the aluminum, I set about creating "wearable sculpture" and thus felt free to let my imagination run wild to create large pieces in bold designs.

Also, as aluminum is not deemed a precious metal and/or is considered difficult to treat, it is not often used in jewelry. But when I approached it with the same respect I would show other more highly regarded metals, and "faced it with my heart," it rewarded me with more than I could have ever imagined. I found aluminum to be a wonderful material.

This was my first attempt at making jewelry, and as I didn't have any jeweler's tools I used my carpenter's tools to roughly cut and contrive each individual piece. I believe it was those tools that helped give the pieces their more "chiseled" and "organic" feel. Most of the materials I use have a past life, discarded pieces with their history recorded in their scratches and scars. Instead of being looked upon as unsightly, I want those elements to be taken in as part of the character of the piece, and as a compliment to their intrinsic beauty.

With this project, the expression "a diamond in the rough" took on an entirely new meaning. My ideas of recycling couldn't have been more beautifully put into practice than to see eight of my creations embellished with the highest quality diamonds, generously donated by the Uchihara Group, from their SA BIRTH line. To combine a base material with the opulent stature of a diamond is a revolutionary idea, but to be able to transform an object that was destined for the trash heap into a reincarnation worthy of such nobility was, for me, the highlight of this project.

It is a great honor, as a small artist, to be given the opportunity to join such a group of visionaries as the Embassy of Botswana, the Uchihara Group, and De'Longhi Japan. I, also, appreciate the cooperation of so many working toward such a worthy cause, and I hope that the "Re-Art Charity Project" can make a great contribution, and help create change, for the Masiela Trust Fund and the children who depend on it for their future.

For more information about the "Re-Art Charity Project" and auction: http://kaden.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/2008/10/06/3006.html