Iyamari is a Japanese contemporary artist with a thriving career going back as far as 2008. After a number of well-attended solo shows and successful curation and direction of exhibitions, and theatre dance performances in Tokyo and London, Iyamari moved to Amsterdam in 2019.

 

Iyamari was born into a family with long-standing traditions in crafts and handiwork, specialising in making Kiri-tansu (traditional style Japanese chests made out of paulownia wood) and bespoke Kimono fabrics. During childhood, Iyamari spent most of the time in the art studio of their father, a professional painter. In that unique environment, Iyamari organically assimilated the way of how to reinterpret the Japanese aesthetics into a modern art form. 

 

While possessing a background in traditional handcrafts and Japanese painting techniques, Iyamari uses these skills in a new and experimental, more expressive manner.  The artist empathised with Jakob von Uexküll and incorporated his basic ideas into their own thoughts and creation. 

 

Iyamari’s main artwork themes are 'Time and Perception', with focus on creating a discernible model of “a moment", to try to point out, and reach beyond, the boundaries of the limited human cognisance, expanding and complementing it. 

 

For those reasons, natural materials play an important role in Iyamari's artworks as mediums of time-visualization, especially trees and stones - they contain records of the surrounding environment, process of growth, and retain the records of time inside of their body.

 

Almost all of the materials  are of natural origin and are typically framed in recycled vintage traditional daily items that are repaired and repurposed by Iyamari, who  ensures the respect for the old craftsmen and their skill are preserved. Some of the items lasted over decades and their  time-related deterioration has become  a part of the artworks themself. 

 

Iyamari's print works are hand printed with Sumi ink, using tree stumps or felled wood. The ink is made from animal glue and soot, so when it is applied to living trees the glue does not harm them. (The idea to use Sumi ink for printing was inspired by the traditional technique used by Japanese tree surgeons for protecting trees against pathogens after unhealthy branches are pruned.) The prints are displayed on Japanese traditional paper - Washi - known as the strongest paper in the world. That type of paper makes it particularly practical to transfer organic shapes of wood pieces.

 

The artistic expression of Iyamari spans a variety of media, including multimedia presentations. Notably, Iyamari is the founder and director of the Telescore Project, which brings together artists and performers from diverse disciplines, including dance, music, and even software programming.