Artisan | Woodworker: Yokozuka, Ikuyoshi | 1960-

Origin:

Yokozuka-san was born in Saitama-ken, Chihibu-shi, and worked in Gunma-ken, Yonezawa-shi for most of his life. He won the Prime Minister’s Award for his unusual Sosaku creations. Unfortunately no other information is available on this exceptional artist.

Collector's note – descriptive qualities, standard characteristics & ornamentation styles:

This artist shows his fascination with innocence by the distinctive eyes. He uses the eyes to express feeling, which is a key factor in the identification of his work. It is unusual to see a lathe-turned kokeshi whose coat, (Haori), is made as a separate and distinct element of the piece. One can certainly understand why the study of history and artifacts are an important factor in enhancing creativeness and innovation. Yokozuka-san produced very unique carved forms, some like science fiction figures, which were used as the basis for anime. He demonstrates a taste for dynamic, unified motifs; clean, straight, and curved lines of his garments give life to three-dimensional pieces. The simplicity of structure also belies the fact that donning a kimono, void of decoration, simply emphasizes form. Simple sumi-e’ is used to define faces and hair.

Artist's Signature: