Nakatomi Hajime

(1974.)

Nakatomi attended one of Japan's top private colleges as a business student. He was a member of the university ceramics club and was a serious student of clay until seeing a bamboo sculpture made by Shōno Shōunsai and meeting the bamboo artist. The beauty and versatility of bamboo left him awe-struck, then he decided to attend the Ōita Prefectural Technical Institute and the Beppu Advanced Industrial Arts and Technology Institute to learn bamboo. He later apprenticed to Honda Syōryū.

Nakatomi's sculptures trace the line between traditional and contemporary bamboo art. They contain quiet and delicate beauty in both functional form and non-functional form. Nakatomi has been exhibiting his works internationally since 2003.

Selected Collections
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco,
California Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, California
National Taiwan Craft Research Development Institute, Taiwan
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin