Kyoto ¨C Inside Sandwich, artist Kohei Nawa¡¯s Kyoto studio, taxidermied deer stand alongside sneakers, a camcorder and an antique chair ¡ª a menagerie of objects awaiting transformation. Nearby, finished pieces ¡ª a biwa lute, an owl and stacks of photographs ¡ª are covered in transparent beads that render them in magnified detail.
¡°I just happened to find this place,¡± says Nawa of his studio, a former sandwich factory located on the outskirts of the city, near the Uji River. Dressed sharply in a hunter-green suit, Nawa, 50, stands in front of a black van freshly decaled with slanted silver stripes, echoing the sharp geometry of his ¡°Direction¡± ink paintings.
Nawa¡¯s art, design and architecture atelier, which opened in 2009 and now employs around 50 people, is bustling. At the time of this interview in late March, the team was wrapping up preparations for ¡°Photon Camp,¡± Nawa¡¯s first Los Angeles solo exhibition at the multinational blue-chip gallery Pace. The show opened April 11, presenting 20 new works from his signature ¡°PixCell¡± series ¡ª sculptures featuring various items covered in glass beads ¡ª and ¡°Prism,¡± a subset of ¡°PixCell,¡± in which objects in transparent boxes appear to multiply through light refraction.
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