Craft as a Child of the Present
-The Formative Logic of Contemporary Makers
Ken-ichi Okuno -Editor in chief

Kenji Toki is a young maker who just two years ago completed his major in Japanese lacquer craft at Kyoto City University of Arts. He has nonetheless participated in actively in group and solo exhibits since his college days, and is accustomed to the continual self-examinations that mark an artist. In this respect, he is precocious. Already, he can speak eloquently of his reasons for choosing lacquer and his volition to follow through on that choice ; "It is not simply from personal inclination that I have chosen to create lacquer works, my way, taking what I need from history and ignoring the rest, and that, in this sense, I am concentrating on 'surface.' Rather, it is the end result of a process inside me, and it is accompanied by the feeling that I am carving my own niche in lacquer art history."
Toki's works represent a meticulous investigation into the realm of ''surface." "This is from my fascination with a surface of flowing curvature. For me, a lacquer surface is something very light. A surface existing alone, suspended in space, would be very clean." From the outlet, Toki has consistently produced works expressing the buoyancy of spread wings. In his most resent efforts, by changing from an FRP body to a carbon fiber one, he has arrived at forms that are thinner, lighter, and stronger. Achieving a crystallization in his fusion of lacquer and high technology, Toki has created a manner of KOGEI (Japanese craft in contemporary) like none before. His unwavering intent has taken scope of the entire process of development, from its point of origin inside him to its natural outcome. "The sense of responsibility that makes a person swear by his words- 'No matter what anyone says, I'm going to do this new thing I have discovered' - is a quality an artist needs to have."

工芸の現在性--
陶、漆、ガラスの現在作家にみる造形理路のありか
Glass and Art 誌編集長　奥野憲一　　

土岐謙次は2年前に京都芸大大学院漆工専攻を修了したばかりの若手作家だ。しかし、学生時代から積極的にグループ展や個展で発表を行っており、作家であることの意識を常に自らに問いかけている。ある意味で早熟といえばいえる。既に、漆を選択した理由と持続の意志をこう語っている。「漆の作品としてこうつくることで、無駄な歴史をこう排除するぞ、こういう意味で表面性に注目するぞというのを、自分の趣味じゃなくて、いろんな流れの延長線上で考えられる。漆の美術史としての一歩を、俺が刻んでいるぞという実感が伴う」と。作品は徹底して表面性を思考したものだ。　「�Tよどみなさ�Uみたいな、�T表面�Uの曲面への憧れなんですね。漆の表面て、僕は非常に軽快なもんやと思うんですよ。その�T表面�Uだけが宙に浮かんでいるとすれば、それはクリーンなものだと思います」と言うように、初期から一貫して翼状の浮力を感じさせる作品だ。今回の新作ではそれまでのFRP胎からカーボンファイバー胎に変えることによって、より薄く軽く強く成形することが可能となった。これは、樹液としての漆がハイテクノロジーと結晶して成立しうるひとつの新しい工芸のかたちといえる。土岐には、自らの発端からはじまり最終に至るプロセスまで貫く意志が強固に横たわっている。「人に何といわれようと自分がこうだと思った新しいことをやる、そういう有言実行的な責任感をしょい込むことが、作家と呼ばれる人間には必要だろうということです。」