Curving Form - 1 そりのあるかたち – 1

In the 1970s, when the rapid industrialization induced many artists to use aluminum, glass, and other industrial materials, Kiichi Sumikawa remained faithful to the material of his choice, wood. The "Bent Form" series of works have been produced over many years and generally feature a geographic composition with the bent form at the center and some more pieces of wood placed around it in an exquisite balance. They are characterized by a sheer impact of form and a sense of weightlessness created by the seemingly floating wood pieces, and in that, show influences of the abstract sculptures of David Smith and Anthony Caro in the early 1960s. Yet, while Caro switched his material from bronze to steel in departing from figurative sculpture, Sumikawa chose to use wood, the traditional material for sculpture in Japan, and to create abstract works through taking advantage of forms that are natural to this material. The choice was apparently based on his great fondness for wood that had been nurtured during his youth in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture.