Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Yamamoto Akane

Yamamoto Akane has developed a new and original field of art known as “Kirikane Glass,” which involves forming various patterns using the age-old kirikane decorative technique and encasing them in glass.The technique was born from Akane’s desire to make the Kirikane levitate in space so that it can be the focus of the art piece..Akane is from Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and studied Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) at Kyoto City University of Arts.Kirikane is a decorative technique for creating patterns that involves pasting together thin layers of gold leaf or other metals.The technique is highly delicate. Several layers of gold, silver, platinum, or other foils are cut into strips finer than a human hair, or squares measuring a few millimeters across, and then brushed with glue and adhered together to produce exquisitely detailed patterns.The process of making a Kirikane Glass piece has infinite steps, and completing one piece takes a very long time.It is the same accumulation of “infinite choices for the sake of beauty” that the draftsmen of ancient times experienced.“The aspects of nature in Japan along with the classics of Japanese literature, especially, the Tale of Genji, are inspirations for creating the imagery in my work,” Akane shares.“I hope that my Kirikane-glass works featuring aesthetic sense and sensitiveness of Japan, are to be dispatched to the world from Kyoto, the center of traditional Japanese arts.More of Yamamoto Akane‘s amazing glass work can be found at https://akane-glass.com/english/.