Hirotoshi Ito / “Stone is more than a stone”

Japanese sculptor Hirotoshi Ito: “Stone is more than a stone.”

4 October 2019
in News

Hirotoshi Ito…. Is a Japanese artist who has strayed from the relative fine line between looking and seeing, never loses his unlimited imagination and energy, and transforms natural stones into marvelous statues. Before moving on to Ito’s works, we would like to thank him for answering our questions online.

Hiroshi Ito is famous with his incredible talent in making solid, hard stones look as light and soft materials. Hirotoshi turns these cold and hard materials into clothes, coin purses, breads, smiley faces and other surreal humorous stone sculptures with his magical hands and unlimited imagination.

 

Hirotoshi Ito Creates Intriguing Stone And Marble Sculptures 

Hirotoshi Ito, a sculptor based in Japan creates intriguing pieces with the use of stones.

Ito plays around with hard stones by sculpting them to appear like the rock is sewn, tied, or zipped - beginning a body of work that is truly thought-provoking to anyone viewing it. The idea that stone and marble, due to its hard exterior, is impossible to cut through is blatant, making Ito’s work so satisfying. While he has made sculptures of a butter knife cutting through different types of marble, he ties together dozens of other actions into or onto a stone that would seem impossible. Ito notes that he chooses stones out of the Azusa River, and uses them as the base of many of his sculptures. Ito cuts and adds zippers, string, and clasps to the stone, letting it stand in an open position with a variety of items coming out. These items range from seashells, coffee beans, gold pieces, and the most interesting - human teeth.

These stone sculptures showing the human teeth are intriguing and almost disturbing, as the teeth are set in a stationary smile or laugh. These specific creations make Ito’s work stand out amongst other sculptures and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. His creations of the unzipping stones are so intricately created that the mere image of it makes you feel like you could practically hold it and scoop out a spoon of coffee beans or reach in to grab loose change. Hirotoshi Ito continues to build this body of work, as he makes dozens of amazing creations that push the envelope and how we view stone and marble.

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