The co-created space of this exhibition, Glass+Photo, strives to transcend the perception of the naked eye through the creation of a world of ever-shifting light and shadow.
Glass artist Yuichi Noda is known for such mandala-inspired works on display here as his Tenku, Tenso, and Cosmic Egg series, as well as his new Tenkyu. His Iris Glass makes the most of the permeability of glass and the refraction and reflection of light, for artistic expression through ripples of light.
Noda also serves as the director of the Toyama Glass Studio, and has recently debuted his new varieties of Koshi-no-Hisui glass: in addition to tea items made from the existing jade-colored Koshi-no-Hisui glass, he has also developed purple and light teal variants this year. He also offers tea items made from Koshi-no-Ao glass.
Photographer Yoichi Oshima photographs swords from the museum collection from remarkably close-up angles, revealing the minute expressiveness of the hamon patterns and the texture of the steel, which would ordinarily be invisible to the naked eye. We hope that visitors enjoy comparing the unique ways that the different materials used in glass sculptures and metal swords interact with light.
Artist Profiles
Yuichi Noda
Born in Tokushima Prefecture. During his time in the Tokushima University Faculty of Engineering, he also studied at Jakucho-Juku, a private school run by Jakucho Setouchi, a writer who also hails from Tokushima.
2003–2016 Professor at the Toyama Institute of Glass Art
2006–Present Director of the Toyama Glass Studio
1988 Awarded silver at the International Exhibition of Glass Craft ’88 (Kanazawa City)
1997 Officially invited to exhibit at the Toyama Contemporary Artists Series — Ways of Visualization (Museum of Modern Art, Toyama)
2002 Awarded the Kitanippon Shimbun Award for Fine Arts
2003 Created Cosmic Egg as a supplemental prize in honor of the naming of Koichi Tanaka, winner of the Nobel prize in chemistry, as an honorary citizen of Toyama City
2004 Awarded the grand prize at the Fifth Kitanihon Art Exhibition
Produced the grand prix trophies for the Pacific Meridian international film festival, held in Vladivostok (’04–’18)
2007 Awarded the Enku award at the Fourth Enku Grand Award Exhibition
2008 Ever-Shifting Glass: The World (Universe) of Yuichi Noda (Centre Culturel Franco-Japonais, Paris and Nancy)
Awarded the Rome Citizen Prize at the Rome Awards
2016 Created Cosmic Egg as a supplemental prize in honor of the naming of Takaaki Kajita, winner of the Nobel prize in physics, as an honorary citizen of Toyama City
Yoichi Oshima
Born in Namerikawa City, Toyama. Graduate of Tokyo Polytechnic University.
1977 Worked for Miya Formative Arts Company and P&P, and became a freelancer
1982 Established Oshima Studio
1998 Held a number of solo exhibitions, such as Personal Advertisement Photo History
1994 Exhibited work at the Creative Toyama in New York exhibition
1997 Exhibited work at the Printing on Mino Washi Paper ’99 exhibition
2005 Awarded the Twelfth Toyama Creator Grand Prize
2006 Exhibited work at the Japan-Korea Friendship Year Photo Exhibition and the Shin Saimdang Art Contest International Invitational Exhibition
2010 Exhibited work at the Kureha Country Club 50th Anniversary Photo Exhibition
Member of the Japan Professional Photographers Society, the Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association, and the Toyama Design Association
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