Komiko Koyanagi Doll

Lot as pictured. Figure measures 11”H sitting on a 4” base. Figure is signed and has attached paperwork as shown in photo. 

Artist info is as follows,

Following the family tradition since childhood, for more than fifty years now, she has both mastered the intricate techniques of fashioning doll-like sculptures from Paulownia wood shavings and at the same time evolved a style of artistic expression which is unique to herself and profoundly moving to the sensitive observer. Kimiko Koyanagi’s works have been widely exhibited in Canada, Japan, the United States and Mexico, both in group and individual exhibitions during the last fifty years. She is probably the only person outside of Japan who uses this Chinese White (chalk) technique in creating her works and she has begun to teach a fourth generation in her chosen homeland of Canada. Given the diversity of her background and experiences, the character and forms of her creations are unlike anything native either to Japan or North America and must, therefore, be approached on their own terms as individual artistic expressions and not be categorized as ‘dolls’ or ‘sculptures’ in any generally accepted sense. Koyanagi’s works are, in my view, projections of the artist herself, of her various stages of individual development. They show, as only the greatest artistic creations do, the essence and spirit of the artist’s state of mind, with sublime simplicity of form, infinite grace of line, and profound economy of gesture and detail. They follow in the tradition of madonnas and icons rather than sculptures, celebrating beauty of form. As such they fill me with reverence, in the manner of a Buddha image which evokes the profundities of Buddhist wisdom; they are not portraits, but celebrations of the spirit of the artist, who with lines of infinite subtlety, shows us her innermost feelings and touches us in the core of our being. This makes her work timeless, matchless and flawless, and brings a touch of divine eternity to the mortal observer in our imperfect world.

** Pick up for this sale is Saturday Oct 26th from 9am-11am. Please do not purchase if you cannot make this prearranged pick up time. All purchases not picked up during this time will be forfeited without refund **