Homage to Delft symposium 2009

'his spirit sees the essence before the existence'

Kouji Ohno is a sculptor in wood.
He has made wonderful fascinating three-dimensional evocations of the human body.
I think that when you stay with these sculptures for a while, you feel as if they are spirited and that you are in contact with their soul.
In Delft, to show his respect to the city, Kouji Ohno started to carve a replica of the ship De Liefde (Love) on board of which Jan Joosten van Lodensteyn arrived in Japan, in 1600. This man has been called Yesau in Japan. A memorial of him stands near the Central Station of Tokyo, as an homage to the Dutchman of Delft who created a first contact between Japan and the Netherlands.
When I saw Kouji Ohno working, I wanted to stay for hours, and admire his sometimes strong and sometimes delicate handling of the electric saw, always very careful with the material. His spirit sees the essence before the existence, the result of his passionate carving. He works in the tradition of his great predecessors, the painters of ancient Japan and China.

Recycle Art symposium 2008

'thanks to earth I can make my art.'

As a sculptor Ohno always uses industrial garbage. He thinks recycling is very important because our environment is endangered. He feels it could make a difference if all artists recycled. He believes that if you recycle, you make a complete change in the material, in comparison to re-using. He likes to use natural materials like iron and wood: products that return to nature.

For the 'Recycle Art' project he has made a place for people to meditate about our changing world in order to change their viewpoint.
'Thanks to garbage I can make my art; it is a gift from earth', he says.
He wants to start a peaceful dialogue and has made his 'tearoom' for everyone, including animals and insects.

A further note about the artwork 'The Metaphor of the Tearoom':
The Japanese tearoom was completed by Sea No Rikyu in the 16th century. The concept was of a peaceful space in which samurais solved wars through discussion.
Ohno constructed a new tearoom by recycling local materials from Delft. People are able to look up into the sky and meditate in peace. By drinking tea the spirits can relax