Sokyo Gallery is pleased to present Yukiko Sugano’s solo exhibition “Petting, Cuddling, Holding a Leash.” Sugano, based in Hyogo Prefecture, poetically expresses narrative works using ultra-fine transparent glass lines. Recently she has been gaining international attention, including the Grand Prize at the 4th Triennale of KOGEI in Kanazawa in 2019. This exhibition, Sugano’s first solo show at Sokyo, will feature 14 of her works.
Sugano's works are made by various techniques such as burner work, kiln work and gluing, and by appropriately selecting and combining materials such as glass, copper wire mesh and plaster clay. She carefully selects from a wide variety of techniques and materials to make clothes look like clothes and hair look like hair, and creates multiple textures and expressions for each work. Observers are often in disbelief to discover that her works are made of glass.
Sugano, who creates works using people and creatures as motifs, takes her own experiences and feelings as the starting point for her creations. She draws hints from the fact that in nature, plants and creatures with varied characteristics gather together to create a single world, of which humans are a part, and that it is always changing and in flux.
The production process is time-consuming, as the work is done in small steps, but Sugano feels as if the work grows by itself, leaving her own hands, as the glass is multiplied by the accumulation of lines and dots. Glass is a material that can form light, and light is said to be a phenomenon that has strongly appealed to the human aesthetic sense since ancient times. Sugano sees potential in glass which has such characteristics.
In this exhibition, focusing on the relationship between pets and humans, Sugano embodies the sensations and emotions transmitted through "touch." The works show the relationship between pets and humans, which is not visually recognizable but which is definite, and expresses the physical and mental changes that occur when people come into contact with their pets. In today's society, where people can easily connect with each other even when separated, we hope that this exhibition will help viewers feel the importance of "touch" as a reliable physical and mental sensation.