Murakami Jochiku Utsushi Daikoku & Ebisu
NBSK 2015
Gold Medal Winner - Tosogu
Top Prize Distinction - Sakaki Mayor's Award
In the Summer 2015 I was awarded the top honor in the category of sword fittings (tosogu) for my Murakami Jochiku utsushi (copy of a well known piece). This being my first ever entry the unexpected success came as a pleasant surprise. I won "Tokusho" (top or unique prize) in the annual NBSK (Nihonto Bunka Shinko Kyokai - The Foundation of Japanese Sword Culture for the Purpose of Public Interest) awards.
I attended the awards ceremony that year and encountered some amazing places and people during my time there. It was a fantastic experience and I would like to thank all the wonderful people who helped make this happen. I would also like to thank all of the people that I was fortunate enough to meet and share this experience with. I continue to feel both fortunate and humbled.
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Inspired by Nature and Tradition
As an Artist and Craftsmen, I am driven by a deep reverence for the intrinsic connection between raw materials, the self, and the natural world. Working exclusively with hand tools, I endeavor to engage in a dialogue with my chosen medium, metal, forging a symbiotic relationship between myself and my work. With each piece I craft and in every cut of the chisel, I seek a space where Craftsmanship is not merely skill, but sacred practice. Drawing inspiration from nature, my work is imbued with the language of the natural world. Through the lens of Japanese aesthetics, tradition, history and craft, I find deep inspiration, reverence and purpose. Humbly carrying forward centuries of timeless techniques passed down through generations.
Basho’s fueki-ryuko(不易流行), the Japanese philosophical concept of constancy and change, provides a mantra I feel essential for producing lasting relevant works. Especially in the field of Classical Japanese metalwork that I have dedicated the last twenty years in deep earnest pursuit.