Special Contributions

Beautiful Glass Art or Not Beautiful Glass Art
— Looking back on past award-winners —（７／９）

Incidentally, from the 11th exhibition in 2010 on, the Grand Prize winners have consistently been young Japanese glass artists. Some say it is by chance, others think it was inevitable. The high quality of artistic expression and originality in Japanese artists is notable. At this 15th exhibition in 2022, the trend continues with Japanese glass artists winning prizes. Apart from the 15th exhibition’s Grand Prize winner, the other Grand Prize winners have all been highly regarded Japanese glass artists whose masterpieces are powerful and challenging creations that are far from the traditional beauty of glass. One of these works is the Grand Prize winner “hand in hand” created by ISHIZEKI Takashi. He was still a university student at the time and this was his first attempt submitting for the competition. By knitting together micro-sized glass fabrics, he created a macro-sized three dimensional form. He observed the possibilities of the structure and pursued the results, and in this way he could show that the connection of small forces can form a structure to create a larger shape. It was a very strange work that could not even be called a sculpture, but many people were fascinated by its fragile texture and precarious existence. It could be said that it was the development and discovery of new glass art rather than a conscious creation.