鉄を素材として、時のなかで「変わりゆくもの、変わらず在り続けるもの」をテーマに制作を行う。

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　アセチレン（可燃性ガス）と酸素を利用するガス溶接・溶断技法を用いた独自の表現手法を生み出し、空間に鉄のドローイングを連想させる彫刻作品を制作。2015年には、彫刻制作と並行して、岐阜県の伝統工芸品である美濃手すき和紙に鉄粉・鉄錆・純金箔などの金属素材を用いた平面制作を行う。かたち在るものが朽ちていく美、華麗と枯淡という、相反する儚さがゆるやかに溶け合う空間を創造する。

 

　西洋から伝わったガス溶接・溶断を通して、日本の伝統文化、技術と表現の融合を試みることにより、金属彫刻における新たな価値創造の可能性を追求している。

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Mai Kato was born in 1992 in Gifu, Japan. Kato graduated from Tama Art University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in sculpture. She became a top graduate of the graduate school of the same university in 2020 and is a member of the Japan Artists Federation.

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With steel, Kato creates works that explore the notion of “things that change and that which remains unchanged” in time. Through a unique method of gas welding, cutting processes, and the use of acetylene (a combustible gas) and oxygen, Kato produces sculptures reminiscent of iron drawings in space. In 2015, the artist began creating two-dimensional works (drawings and paintings) with metallic materials such as iron powder, iron rust, and pure gold leaf on hand-made Mino Washi paper, a traditional Japanese paper from Gifu Prefecture. Through her art, Kato aspires to create a space in which contradictory transiences, such as beauty and decay, splendor and simplicity, may coexist.

 

By fusing Japanese tradition and innovation, expression and technology, the artist seeks the prospect of creating new values in metal sculpture.