Kazuki Takizawa: Catharsis Contained

“The harmonization of the radically different, such as, violence and meditation, spontaneity and meticulousness, and destruction and repair is found in the process, as well as the result of my work.”

Los Angeles artist Kazuki Takizawa elucidates human emotions in the shimmering, fragile form of glass. Passion, turmoil, self-expression and mental health are driving forces behind Takizawa’s articulate approach to sculpture. Takizawa uses blown and shaped glass to shed light on the darkness that can overwhelm those who face depression, disorder and mental illness in their lives. His powerful bulbous shapes and vessels encapsulate these taboo topics and provide a personal catharsis to the artist.

Takizawa uses the vessel as a conceptual launching point for capturing and protecting feelings. The immaterial yet overpowering feelings that individuals experience fill these glasses to the point at which they overflow. These misshapen and vibrant containers symbolically hold sensations within and defy conventions. His deliberately flawed goblet-like forms derive from the finest Venetian formal tradition, which Takizawa interprets masterfully. Takizawa finds the beauty within endurance and gives it a new externalized shape.

This exhibition will feature a body of work that explores the nature and ancient history of the container, in this case, reinvented as a psychological metaphor. Predominantly consisting of bronze and amber glass forms, Takizawa will scatter bursts of color throughout this emotive and arresting group.

Photos by Madison Metro