We interviewed MADARA MANJI, an artist known for his three-dimensional works using mokume gane, which have a unique sense of balance and a strong presence.
What is the artist's motivation behind his works, which are filled with a complexity that dominates the air around them?

Artist : MADARA MANJI
Interviewer: Asako Tamoto (TRiCERA)

-May I ask for a brief biography?

I was born in Tokyo and stopped going to school in kindergarten. I managed to graduate from high school.
When I was 19 years old, I apprenticed myself to a metal craftsman in Kyoto, and I studied for two years. At the age of 29, I was scouted by the Whitestone Gallery, where I am now, and I have had exhibitions in various places.

-What style are you working in these days?

You have changed a lot since then. After my debut, I moved into my current studio and worked on my artwork every day. I have several exhibitions a year, both in Japan and abroad, so I spend most of my time working on my artwork. I exhibit my work at art fairs and group shows overseas, and in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the U.S., Shanghai, Singapore, and many other places. So I am always creating artworks.


-I think the use of the mokumegane technique in your works is a major feature of your work. What made you decide to use Mokume-Gane?
(Mokumegane is a technique in which layers of metal materials are heated and pressed together, then carved and twisted to create a grain-like pattern.)


Ambivalence #12 "Repetition, Difference, and Repetition"| 2021 | Copper, Silver, Gold, Concrete, Stainless | 260 × 320 × 410 mm

Mokume-Gane is a rare technique, and in the past there were not many people who could do it. Few people can create it with more than a certain level of quality.
It ' s an aggressiveapproach tometalworking: heating themetal to 1,000 degrees Celsius and tapping it in. If it is too hot, it melts; if you hit it too hard, it breaks; if the temperature is too low, it cannot be sculpted; and if you hit it with too little force, it cannot be processed.If the temperature is too low, it cannot be formed, and if the force of beating is too weak, it cannot be processed . I thought that thecondition of metal, which is formed only when it is strong enough to withstand such energy, is the same as the mentality of human beings. I felt romanticism there.
I was truant from school all through my school years. Since I was a small child, I could not understand human society, and I still felt more sympathy for animals and the like. Human society is a complex mix of ethics and concepts that was difficult to understand without basic education. I thought of myself as similar to an animal, but humans are still different from animals. I wondered what the crucial difference was, and itwasimagination.
One area in which I excelled was that of imagination. I realized that it was an interesting power unique to humans. I wanted to study more about imagination and the spirit of inquiry, and I wanted to somehow be able to visualize it, to make it into an object. In my late teens, I understood that this would fit the frame of being an artist, and I decided to become one.
What I wanted to do as a concept was to mix anything and everything in a complex way anyway. The human interior is complex. There are a lot of emotions. There are traumas and complexes, and therefore desires mixed together.
As for the technique, I first tried using clay, but when clay is mixed, it feels natural to be mixed. It is human nature for things that shouldn't mix to mix with each other , and I wanted to express that.


Uncovered Cube #110 | 2022 | Copper, Silver, Gold, Brass | 180 × 180 × 180 mm

-Is "humanity" the subject of your work?

It is "the state of mankind. The cube-shaped pieces in my representative series represent the core of a person.Mokumegane is made of metals with different properties, and the more you mix them, the more they repel each other and break.When different metals with different properties are mixed together, they becomemagnetic, as if magnets are repelling each other. At that time, the metal contains a strong force to repel and separate itself, and is bound together by an even stronger force than the force that is contained within it. I think it is the same with the human mind. In my case, a strong contradiction is generated from within, and if I lose to it, I go down. If I don't lose, I can surpass that contradiction and be myself properly. I create my works with this theme of overlapping the resilience of metal and the resilience of human beings.


-Next, I would like to ask you about your motivation for creating your works. When you make a work, do you make it to embody some kind of emotion that arises?

I have a rather complicated personality, and I always have a mixture of various emotions.
Isn't that how people live their lives? In the long run, it is hard for people to live with contradictions in the first place, and I think that what the human imagination and inquisitiveness bring about is negativity. Imagination brings doubt, and inquisitiveness brings desire. When desires are betrayed, disappointment arises, and when they are not achieved, complexes and frustration arise.
The human heart is too weak to hold such things.There are more times when we feel defeated in life, but we have to live.When you think of a person with that complex mentality as a life, it is really a mixture of many things.
All of my works are unbalanced in terms of the angle at which they stand upright, and I try to stand with the center of gravity gathered at the bottom, but many people tell me that they don't understand why they can stand. In short, my works are like a complex mixture of things, and I don't know why they are able to stand, but they are doing their very best to keep standing. I wanted to express thetexture of the human heart and life in this work.


Revision #09 | 2020 | Paper, Acrylic, Stainless| | 285 × 390 × 40 mm


-What do you look for in art, and what is valuable to you?

I think good art is the work that gives me a reason to live. An invisible power that is necessary for life. It may sound a bit silly, but courage! And motivation. I am grateful when I am given such things, and I believe that is the value of art.


-What do you want to convey to viewers through your works?

The reason and meaning of human life. In the act of living humanly, violence, cruelty, and indifference inevitably appear. At the same time as such negative things, there are definitely positive things, but I think many people lose sight of the reason for living because they can only see the negative things. I didn't understand this myself. I worked for some reason, earned money for some reason, saved money for some reason, paid taxes for some reason, bought nice things for some reason... I don't think this is life. I don't think that's life. I always wanted to know what it means to live humanly and the significance of living humanly. I think it would be great if I could convey this to others through visualized objects.


-Thank you very much for your time today.


For information on exhibitions in which MADARA MANJI is currently participating, please click here.
I LOVE SINGAPORE
Venue / Whitestone Singapore
Format / Group Exhibition
Dates / January 6, 2023 (Fri.) start, closing date undecided
Hours / 11:00 - 19:00

Artist Profile

MADARA MANJI

Born in Tokyo, March 28, 1988.
After graduating from high school in Tokyo, he studied under a metal engraver in Kyoto at the age of 19 in order to acquire modeling skills for his artwork.
After several years of learning basic metal working techniques, he became independent at the age of 23.
He has a studio in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, where he has been creating his works up to the present.
Whitestone Gallery - MADARA MANJI Profile

Exhibition History
≪Solo Exhibitions
2017 Antagonism and Transcendence / Whitestone Gallery KARUIZAWA
2020 VORTEX / Whitestone Gallery KARUIZAWA
2020 ACCUMULATION / Whitestone Gallery Taipei
2020 MASS / Whitestone Ginza New Gallery
2021 CORE / Whitestone Gallery Taipei
2022 EXPLOSION / Whitestone Ginza New Gallery

≪Group Exhibition
2017 INTERMIXTURE / Whitestone Gallery HongKong Hollywood Road
2018 HEBIME MADARAMANJI Two Artists Exhibition Archetype / Whitestone Gallery KARUIZAWA
2019 Neo-Materialism / Whitestone Ginza New Gallery

≪Art Fairs≫.
2017 ART NAGOYA 2017 / Whitestone Gallery KARUIZAWA
2017 ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2017 / Whitestone Gallery KARUIZAWA
2018 VOLTA 14 / YOD Gallery
2019 KUNST RAI 2019 / YOD Gallery
2020 art TNZ / YOD Gallery
2021 Art Fair Tokyo 2021 / YOD Gallery
2021 Art Miami 2021 / YOD Gallery
2022 Art Fair Tokyo 2022 / YOD Gallery
2022 VOLTA BASEL 2022 / YOD Gallery
2022 Fine Art Asia 2022 / Whitestone Gallery
2022 Art 021 / Whitestone Gallery
2022 Art Miami 2022 / YOD Gallery