Heihachi Hashimoto's Spirit of Sculpture : Expression of Life and Prayer in Woodcarving

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  • 橋本平八の彫刻の精神 : 木に刻まれた生命と祈りの表現
  • ハシモト ヘイ ハチ ノ チョウコク ノ セイシン : キ ニ キザマレタ セイメイ ト イノリ ノ ヒョウゲン

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Abstract

Heihachi Hashimoto (橋本平八 1897–1935) was a sculptor who died young at the age of 38, and an artist whose writings on sculpture are very difficult to understand. In 2010, however, an artistic exhibition Hashimoto Heihachi and Kitasono Katsue was held in Mie and Tokyo, and many aspects of these two people’s artistic activities were introduced. It appears from this exhibition that new research on Hashimoto is now happening inside and out-side Japan. This paper is a study of the integration of his spirit, theory, and practice in sculpture, and through this study, his expression of life and prayer in single-block woodcarving is explored. For this article, much literature was reviewed, synthesized, and analyzed, including a variety of Hashimoto’s writings, such as Junsui-chokoku-ron (On Genuine Sculpture, 1942). In ad-dition, I visited his hometown and talked with persons connected with him and carefully examined his works of woodcarving. Through this research, his experimental process of woodcarving through the integration of spirit, theory, and practice, and his positive attitude towards the practice of his principles were revealed. Moreover, in exploring his expression of life and prayer in woodcarving, I discovered various influences in his carvings, such as his family members’ deaths, Shintoism/Buddhism rooted in his birthplace Asama, his view of Buddhism/Buddha statues, and the inner life/spirituality of the materials he used in his sculptures. Both his woodcarving develop-ment and his professional development as a sculptor seemed reciprocally promoted through his autonomous, reflective practice and research. This is an area I also would like to enhance in my own professional growth not only as a sculptor, but also as a moku-iku (educational woodworking activities) practitioner and researcher.

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