KENJI SHIGEOKA ATELIER

生命感あふれる多くの彫刻作品を送り出している重岡建治先生は８８歳で今でも現役、毎日作品を制作されている。伊豆高原の五月祭にも参加されているので、先日先生のアトリエを訪れ、いろいろな作品を見ながら久しぶりにゆっくりお話しできた。先生の作品はどれも現代的に抽象化されているけれど、その中に深い愛情の温もりを感じる。
最近朝早く起きることが多くなった先生は、夜が明けるまでの２時間ほどの時間を使って沢山のスケッチを描くそうだ。その中から本当に自分が気に入ったものを選び、小さな作品を制作するのが何よりも楽しいと言って、手のひらサイズの白い女性像を私の手に乗せてくださった。自分の心と純粋に向き合いながら制作された先生の作品には命が輝いている。
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Kenji Shigeoka's atelier is two doors down from my atelier in Izukogen. Mr. Shigeoka, now 88 years old, is still active today, creating sculptures and paintings.
I visited his studio the other day and was able to talk to him for about an hour while looking at his various works.
All of his works are modern and abstract, but you can feel the warmth of deep love within them. This contrasts with the inorganic forms produced by modern society, which prioritizes economic efficiency.
Large bronze works installed in public places are often created upon request from clients. However, Mr. Shigeoka, who has been getting up earlier in the morning lately, said that he spends the two hours or so before dawn to draw many sketches. He said that he really enjoys creating small works of art more than anything else from those sketches, and he placed a small white female figure in the palm of my hand. I feel the radiance of life in the works created while genuinely confronting one's own heart.