Takeshi Harada creates works using metal craft techniques with a rich history. The fineness and development of metal techniques such as forging, engraving, and inlaying continue to fascinate people, and the works of the late Katsuyoshi Shoami, whom Harada admired, are now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Until now, Harada’s works have been based on motifs of the small world around us, such as insects and small animals, mainly by cutting out scenes from his memories of scenes he saw in his childhood. In this solo exhibition, “Winged Beasts,” he returns to his roots, focusing on the imaginary creatures that he used as motifs during his college days. Please come and see his works, which are created by his fine metal modeling technique, without coloring, but with the coloring of metal colored by chemical transformation.

［Comment]
The motif of this solo exhibition is imaginary winged creatures. Although I have not created imaginary creatures in recent years, I created a phoenix as a motif for my graduation project at university and a dragon as a motif for my graduate project. In that sense, I have created my works when I reached a milestone in my life. This time, I faced the theme of my other starting point for the first time in about 9 years and produced another work of art. This time, I have chosen wings as a sub-theme among imaginary creatures. Since ancient times, winged imaginary creatures have been depicted all over the world. It may be that there has been a longing or awe for the existence of wings among humans. At least, I feel it myself. I embodied a creature with such fascination.
(Takeshi Harada)