The fascination of glass draws you in.
Shun Kumagai is a glass artist based in Akita City. Fascinated by the unique expression of his works, he has held solo exhibitions in Japan and abroad, and his presence is growing. When we visited Mr. Kumagai’s home and studio, we found his glass works lined up in his studio surrounded by a beautiful garden that seemed to reflect the colors of the four seasons.
Born and raised in Akita Prefecture, Kumagai studied glass art at an art college and then moved to Toyama, a city of glass, where he worked at the Toyama Glass Studio, building a solid foundation in glass. After working there for about four years, he decided to return to Akita when his wife, Aki Sakaiida, also a glass artist, became pregnant.
Kumagai’s glass works are very unusual. At first glance, the shapes, textures, and tones of his glass works are so different from those of other glass artists that it is hard to tell that they are made of glass. They have a mysterious atmosphere as if they were excavated from ancient Egyptian ruins, and appear to be made using the pate de verre technique, creating a mysterious worldview that draws the viewer in.
Many glass artists tend to go for beautiful glass. But I am more interested in changes and irregularities caused by impurities in the glass than in transparency and beauty. For some reason, I am attracted to such things,” says Kumagai.
In search of the one and only glass works
The basis of Mr. Kumagai’s work is the casting technique. He also applies ceramic and Nakagane techniques to his work. He arrived at this creative technique because he wanted to create a work that no one had ever seen before.
First, he makes a plaster mold and molds it with molding wax while visualizing the work. The mold is then placed in a small box and plaster is poured around it to complete it. The plaster mold is then filled with liquid hot glass, which is cooled and hardened to form the piece. The raw materials used for the molds are materials that were given to him by a glass artist friend of his who was going to scrap them, and he mixes them with earth, metal, and other powders. The original color of the glass is heated to 1,000 degrees Celsius with the clay and metal, and the different properties of the ingredients produce complex colors and textures, creating a unique look for the finished piece.
After cooling for a week or more, the plaster is broken and the glass is removed. Because so much time has passed since the piece was placed in the mold, he often forgets what he has made and what it looks like until he opens it and looks at it. He says that he gets excited when he finds unexpected uneven coloring due to impurities in the glass, or when he sees an expression that makes the piece look dirty. Kumagai’s smile widens when she talks about her glass works. The most interesting part is when I break the plaster and take out the work,” he says. Saying this, Kumagai began to break a plaster cast with a mallet.
As he carefully tapped the plaster with the mallet, a human-shaped glass work resembling a Buddha emerged from inside. The slightly rough, dull-colored texture, the color dripping, and the distorted form of the piece, indeed, had a charm unique to the odd shape that transparent glass does not have.
I’ve gotten used to working with small pieces over the past few years,” he said. I would like to work on larger pieces in the future,” says Kumagai. I would like to master the casting technique and continue to create works that are unique to Mr. Kumagai.
