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an image of a skull on a black base on a white backgroundan image of a skull on a black base on a white background
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18 - Toshimasa Kikuchi (Japan, born 1979)
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Estimate €7,000 - €9,000
Sale commission
Description
Toshimasa Kikuchi (Japan, born 1979) Untitled Skull Wood and pigment, dry lacquer Early 21st century Life-size In this life-size work, Toshimasa Kikuchi confronts the viewer directly with human anatomy and the materiality of death. The skull is rendered with striking precision, though without seeking to create a perfect illusion. Traces of the carving remain visible on the surface of the wood, particularly on the skull and around the eye sockets, lending the piece an almost archaeological quality. The deeply hollowed-out eye sockets, nasal cavities and oral cavity accentuate the contrast between the mass of the wood and the voids that structure the face. The dark surface, enlivened by pigments and lacquer, is deliberately left with an irregular appearance. In some areas, the raw material and the grain of the wood are visible, whilst in others the lacquer lends a sense of depth. The teeth are a particularly striking feature of the work. They are rendered in dry lacquer using the kanshitsu technique, rather than carved directly into the wood. This contrast in materials reinforces the anatomical presence of the skull and gives the teeth a distinct, almost mineral-like visual density that stands out clearly against the dark tones of the piece as a whole. In Kikuchi’s work, the skull becomes less a mere memento mori than an object of study of human structure. Reduced to its essential architecture, the face loses its individuality to become a universal form. Anatomical precision thus interacts with the sensuality of the wood and lacquer, transforming a motif traditionally associated with transience into a meditation on form, material and permanence. Toshimasa Kikuchi, born in 1979 in Ehime Prefecture, is a Japanese sculptor trained in the conservation and restoration of Buddhist statuary at Tokyo University of the Arts, where he was awarded a PhD in 2008. Skilled in woodcarving, lacquerwork and traditional kanshitsu techniques, he channels this expertise into contemporary works where figurative forms, scientific models and abstraction converge. His series of skulls and bones extend his study of the structure of Buddhist sculptures to that of human and animal anatomy, whilst his abstract works draw on mathematics, hydrodynamics and scientific models to explore the relationships between form, matter, solid and void. This mathematical and abstract dimension of his work was particularly celebrated in 2021 at the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet in Paris, during a ‘Carte blanche’ exhibition dedicated to the artist. His geometric sculptures and installations in Aiguilles unfolded within the space, offering a reflection on monumentality, light and the relationship between solid and void.
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About the sale Art Animation VII: Monsters, Villains and Antagonists
Auction location
Auction time 10/18/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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