KEN SUGIMOTO

MEDIUM

Sculpture

ARTIST STATEMENT

“The key elements of my sculptural metalwork are tension and balance. I make the work unique with an organic form that is achieved by hand-forging the carbon steel and stainless steel, polishing, and buffing repeatedly.”

ARTIST BIO

Ken Sugimoto’s work is sculptural metalwork. Sugimoto makes it unique with an organic form that is achieved by hand-forging the steel. He starts by heating the steel in a forge. He then creates a form that is inherently organic by hammering the forged steel by hand. The key elements of his work are tension and balance.

The unique characteristics of stainless steel and carbon steel tend to unlock his imagination whenever he works with them. These steels lead him to extreme, dynamic, and streamlined shapes. Polishing and buffing the dynamic metal geometries carefully and repeatedly yield glossy surfaces that complement and enhance the dynamic form of each creation.

Sugimoto was born and raised in Japan, and he studied design in Tokyo. He has over 25 years of experience as a product designer in both Japan and the United States, and now works as a full-time artist. He moved to the United States in 2005, where he encountered the world of metal arts while working as an industrial designer. He then joined a year-long program in Los Angeles to learn blacksmithing.

In contrast to the mass production he was involved with for many years, Sugimoto has always been driven to create one-of-a-kind pieces in his art. At the same time, his knowledge of metal as a material, gained through his industrial design background, continues to influence his creativity.

Since beginning his artistic journey, Sugimoto has been willfully laboring in the world of metal art by both exploring and challenging his artistic abilities and limits in the creative confines of his studio.