26 Oct In Conversation with Haroshi: Process
Today we’ve asked Haroshi to tell us a bit about the process that goes into his work. He is an artist who’s work has many layers, and every detail is significant. We were curious to know what techniques were used to achieve the stunning sculptures of his new body of work… Check out the conversation below:
StolenSpace: You are a self taught artist who uses a very unconventional material to create your sculptures. How did this idea come to you originally? Was it a long and difficult process to perfect this technique?
Haroshi: I assume it was like 10 years ago, when I was thinking to myself that I wanted to start something new. That’s when my wife, Haru, who I’ve been working together since when I started this, first suggested that I create something with skateboards. I’ve been a skater for a long time, so I had many retired old skateboards on hand.
At first I thought that was an impossible and ridiculous idea. But when I peeled off the deck tape, I found out how cool it looked. The first sculptures looked really lousy. To cut, I started with a handsaw, but then soon realized it wasn’t working so great, so I bought a second hand electric fret saw at a second hand store district. But it took a while before I got the hang of precise and beautiful cutting technique. By “a while” I mean that it took me about 10 years, so it’s going to take up one whole interview to explain my gradual progression (laugh). So roughly speaking I guess it could be said that it took me 10 years to perfect the technique to make my sculptures look beautiful.
‘Pain’ is open until 3rd November at StolenSpace Gallery.