In this three-day workshop, we will learn and practice rebuilding organic forms from the logic of the naturally occurring mechanism. We will experience layering the clay and creating a “membrane” through the coiling method, mangling with the modeling mechanisms: expansion, distortion, twist, and inversion, to create mathematical forms like a spiral, torus, the Möbius strip etc.

The coil-built hollow-core geometric forms in Kurokawa Toru’s works have a visceral, eerie presence. His early sculptures, which captured the dynamism of natural movement without actually replicating any particular form, evoked the natural formation of coral and plants. The shapes in his most recent body of work are based on mathematical calculations and formulae.

He wishes to pursue the possibility of emptiness and find a simple and beautiful shape, discovering the connections between space and sculpture, physical structure and sculpture, and the human spirit and sculpture.

He first majored in sculpture as an undergraduate before switching to ceramics, which prompted him to continue his studies in graduate school and remain a teacher today. Early on, Kurokawa, who was inspired by blue coral in his large mesh-patterned works, won the prestigious Chza

Grand Prix in 2007. Kurokawa also collaborates with musicians and physicists and also does projects with flower arrangement artists, with an interest in making music sculptures and making public art.

*Basic hand-building experience required

*All materials are included

*Conducted in English