Jiro Yonezawa

Jiro Yonezawa is a Japanese artist that uses bamboo basketry as an expression of detailed precision. With each artwork he creates, there is a contrast of disciplined formality in technique and natural freedom in form. iro Yonezawa has received numerous awards for his bamboo vessels and sculpture. Formally trained in Beppu, Japan, Jonezawa then moved to the US, and when he did so, the lacquered twill-patterned form associated with Beppu was transformed by the artist into sensuous sculptural vessels, formal yet more freely formed.

Statement:
"Bamboo basketry for me is an expression of detailed precision. In each basket there is the contrast of disciplined formality in technique and natural freedom in form. There is an element of intrigue and an element of complexity for what lies beyond form. These baskets represent a search for the beauty and precision in nature and a way to balance the chaos evident in these times."
- Jiro Yonezawa

Selected exhibitions:
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin (Ceramic and Fiber: A New Generation); American Craft Museum, New York, New York (Basketmakers selected by John McQueen); Long House Reserve, East Hampton, New York (Small Works in Fiber curated by Jack Lenor Larsen and Mildred Constantine); Crafts Council, London, England (Contemporary International Basketmaking, traveling exhibit) California Crafts Museum, San Francisco, California; Bellevue Art Museum, Washington; LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York; Craft Alliance, St. Louis, Missouri; Corvallis Art Center, Oregon; Springfield Museum, Oregon; The Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Prizes: Cotsen Bamboo Prize 2006