JIRO YONEZAWA

Jiro Yonezawa  uses traditional Japanese bamboo basket weaving techniques, such as the formal, symmetrical, tightly woven baskets, or the looser and irregular weave characteristic of the indigenous Japanese farming and fishing  baskets. He freely combines these traditional techniques and creates baskets that are free and inventive. Yonezawa’s baskets are further enriched through the application of several layers of lacquer which he imports from Japan. He also sometimes layers on a powder, ground from carefully gathered pine soot and other ingredients that when applied will fill the deep crevices of the basket weave. He works both the inside of the basket and the outside or skin of the container. His works range from 12 inches to 7 feet tall. Each contains a whisper of containment while bursting with unrestrained freedom of form.  Yonezawa studied basket-making at Oita Prefectural Beppu Industrial Arts Research Center in Japan. He was also apprentice to Ono Masakatsu, a master bamboo artist in Japan.

Selected Permanent Collections

The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii

Microsoft Corporation, Seattle, Washington

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon

Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, Wisconsin

Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina

City of Portland, Portland, Oregon

Jack Lenor Larson, New York

Terry Hunziker, Seattle, Washington

Camille and Alex Cooke, Chicago, Illinois

Joanne Rapp, Scottsdale, Arizona

Lloyd Cotsen, Los Angeles, California

Kay Sekimachi, Berkley, California

Alan E & Marianne Schwartz, Michigan

Please contact us for other available works
info@jsauergallery.com