MASAMI TOKUDA

Masami Tokuda is a talented woodworker who lives and works in Kagoshima. His use of materials and techniques are rooted in traditional Japanese lacquering, and in addition to this are combined with new, contemporary processes such as plant dyeing up to 10 or 20 times. Tokuda also adds a surface and coating treatment for durability and water resistance to each work. His woodwork takes the form of furniture, functional and non-functional objects including wood bowls, and tools. Sketching ideas in his mind, Tokuda refrains from conventional approaches and works intuitively, believing that his hands think about what to make, if he continuously moves them. Perceiving experiences through sound and not visuals, Tokuda states that he feels figures by hearing, rather than seeing. This notion is injected into his practice, honouring his values. He says: “I just give shapes to my sense that I feel like spring water. The spring water flows where it flows, and sometimes becomes a river or springs, sometimes it stays just a drop of water, where it arrives, it can give a new feeling or a fresh will to someone.”