Gate 門

The most striking feature of Takeshi Tsuchiya's sculptural works lies in the way the materials are used. In "Walking Steel"(1972),he expressed the movement of human walk with heavy, hard masses of steel. In a more recent "Breathing Form"(1992),the steel sheets as thin as paper are employed to create a form that is indeed flexible enough to allow free passage of air. He is very good at making surprising uses of materials, but in this work, titled "Gate", we find the materials used where we would expect them to be, though the form they present is abstract. The steel sheet supported by the wooden frame can be seen as a door that is ready to open. In this setting, the steel sheet functions as a heavy door, and the pieces of wood, as its support. But there is another aspect to this work―the abstract form that suggests the very moment the door cracks open attests to the artist's outstanding artistic skill. His recent works that use steel combine the skillful handling of the materials and the aptness of the abstract form to produce impressive effects.