Watanabe Chiaki

Calm Mind

Long Lake Estates

Watanabe Chiaki is a Japanese Asian Modern & Contemporary artist who was born in 1969. 

Chiaki spent 14 years as a social worker before transitioning to art. He moved to Japan’s remote Sado Island to study at a school for bamboo art under master craftsmen Honma Hideaki and Kawano Shoko. It was on Sado where he was introduced to the shifting color technique used in Calm Mind, which he learned directly from artist Fujitsuka Shosei.

Chiaki describes Calm Mind as “like a brush painting in three-dimensional form, a single stroke depiction of being deep down in the ocean and having a calmness in your heart and a positive mind, regardless of the violent storms that may be passing by.”  Calm Mind was accompanied by another similar piece which was red and black, intended to represent the idea of passion and dynamism.  Chiaki created the two sculptures as companion pieces representing the dual aspects of heart and mind.

His work has been featured in several exhibitions at key galleries and museums, including the Tai Modern and the Musée Guimet National des Arts Asiatiques. 

Articles:

An Article about “Calm Mind”

Sado Contemporary: Sculpture by Honma Hideaki and Watanabe Chiaki