Jessica Harrison/Atsuo Okamoto

Atsuo Okamoto: Turtle pieces

'Splitting and returning' or 'wari modoshi', embraces a traditional Japanese method of stone carving in which larger blocks are split into manageable portions then to be fused into a single sculpture. Taking this convention to engage with issues of contemporary life and art making, Okamoto entrusts his fragments of stone to selected people around the world for five years. During this time, they absorb their surrounding environment and take on a unique colour, before they are returned to be meticulously reassembled into a 'Turtle' piece. This 'infiltration of life' as he describes it, reminds us through a patchwork effect, of the movements each piece has undertaken and how alive stone is to specific traces of contact.

Okamoto has exhibited world wide, and teaches at the Joshibi University of Art and Design, Tokyo.

Jessica Harrison: Touchstones

Starting with a hand-sized ball of soft clay, I work blindly, manipulating the felt form, probing its skin. The resulting shape describes the space in-between the fingertips, with imprints left to document touch and to map the space. Then the form is translated into stone, carved from a single block, giving the impression of a fragile permanence.

JH, 2012