浮島彫刻スタジオ UKISHIMA SCULPTURE STUDIO

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My Idea

Kate Thomson

My sculptures are modern lyrical abstract forms designed to explore our relationship with our environment and each other. Inspired by the human form, landscape, and constants in nature: cycles of time, growth, water, wind and weather, solar, lunar and stellar rhythms. I look for simple, elegant forms that encompass the complexity of life, with a sense of play.

Light is essential to articulate form, so I work with the beautiful lustrous quality of marble to enable form to articulate light and life.

I work with natural stone because it is fascinating, timeless, durable, and low maintenance. Its tactile texture and color help me create an attractive resonance with the built environment, connecting us to the natural context we all crave.

I design public sculptures to be a welcoming bridge between human and architectural scale, inviting people to explore and feel at home in the space.

My concept for developing each sculpture is just the starting point. Once they are in public they belong to everyone as crucibles for their ideas and dreams.

私の作品について

1."Aphrodite"、Tokyo Midtown

I have made many sculptures with the theme of myths . Among them, Aphrodite is the second god of Greek mythology that governs love, beauty and sexuality, and is one of the pillars of the Olympus god. Proud of beauty, She has been selected as the highest goddess by the judgment of the three goddesses by Paris. She is born from the sea and is carried by the waves. I would like to express this beauty god by combining the gentle touch of the human body, the elegant curves and the soft music.

1.Aphrodite

2. "Key Of Affinity", Otemachi Financial City, Tokyo

The design of the forms and the space they define draws on Celtic & Ainu key patterns translated into 3 dimensions, zigzagging through the space to amplify a sense of lively movement of people and the space in Otemachi. The installation creates a landscape of rock, cave and wave forms condensed into abstract form, inspired by the same natural phenomena as the Celts and Ainu were synthesising in their key patterns, and which have continued to fascinate mankind to this day.

Both plans designed to animate the space between the trees and give the city site the sense of dignity, fascination and well being experienced in an organic, natural landscape. The composition implies the continuation of the undulating forms hidden under the earth, symbolising the links that connect us to each other.

Marble has a beautiful translucence which will catch the dappled light coming through the trees and reflect it inside the forms, highlighting the colours contained in natural light against the white marble, and articulating the daily and seasonal changes of light.

Pedestrians can walk through the space between the installation, and sit or play on the sculpture elements. Road users passing by can glimpse the changing light and movement from their vehicles.

2. Key Of Affinity

3.“River Spirit”, Oatlands Square, Glasgow

Making Links

My main aim as an artist is to encourage exploration and appreciation of the world we live in and stretch the boundaries of imagination of the world we could thrive in. Important themes in my work are the environment, and society, looking for sustainable ecological balance and social harmony.

I look for simple and elegant forms that encompass the complexity of life, for instance the spiral of a shell corresponds to the Fibonacci growth cycle, the Golden Mean proportions, a parabola (the arc of any thrown object within Earth’s gravitational field), and the almost magical mathematical equation of Pi.

My first impression was that the site at Oatlands Square presented an excellent opportunity to create a community focus, shifting the space to be more of a village square.

High quality art is fundamental to the well being of society. The role of an artist is in many ways to remind people that play is not self-indulgence, but a vital way of exploring the world and our place in it.

I believe art is primarily a form of communication, and its language should be accessible to everyone. Some lack confidence to join the conversation because they are unfamiliar with the language. So I ran exhibitions, meetings and workshops to engage the local community, to demystify the vocabulary and grammar of the arts and encourage them to express their ideas and inform the design process.

People were very generous with their time and ideas. Among all the different schools, groups and individuals I worked with key local features that often came up to be considered included reference to the River Clyde, memories of playing in Richmond Park, swans on the water, the areas' industrial past from weaving to ship building. Although most residents were very happy with the housing development, several who had moved back to the area expressed nostalgia for the strong sense of community that existed in Oatlands before the old houses were demolished, and many new residents were also concerned that there was not yet a community centre or any shops where people could meet and galvanise a sense of community.

We demonstrated how the “River Spirit” space could work in the future at the opening events by inviting local voluntary groups (arts as well as hobby and community development) to set up stalls, and by inviting 2 local community choirs to perform.

I am incredibly grateful to everyone who took part in the project for their invaluable contributions to the vision: to create an original, tactile and accessible site-specific artwork with a distinctive identity that gives Oatlands a real sense of place and community.

The sculpture installation is primarily made to be attractive, inviting people into the space it creates, and encouraging dialogue. As well as aesthetically enhancing the space, it is designed to become part of the social and practical infrastructure and create a sense of place, where people can meet, sit and play together. The many ideas that were expressed in the workshops and meetings were condensed into essential symbolic yet tangible form in an installation accessible to all ages, and cultural backgrounds.

Concept – key patterns linking community
Theme – the water cycle and sustainable natural balance. Celebrating the natural beauty of the River Clyde
Materials - natural granites of the highest quality from Scotland and around the world - low maintenance, strong and durable, capable of enduring for thousands of years - were carefully chosen to create an attractive resonance between the built environment and the natural context and express the rich cultural diversity of the local community.

River Spirit
Main goals were to create:

Main goals were to create