The connection between "things" and people

Graduated from the Department of Crafts at Tokyo University of the Arts. In high school, he was thinking of going into the field of design, but after his teacher told him, "You are the type of person who uses your skills to support people's lives from behind," he decided to pursue a career in crafts. During his university days, he studied forging and found iron to be the hardest, but when he went to Ishikawa, he was moved by the changes in the place and the material due to the rust on the iron he had, and decided to become a wrought iron artist, leading to his current style. In 2024, he won the Encouragement Award at the 44th Pola Traditional Culture Awards, sponsored by the Pola Traditional Culture Promotion Foundation. His beautiful and light wrought iron works, which blend into the space and create a sense of air, fascinate people.

The connection between "things" and people

People live. "Things" support our lives. Through the connections and circulation of people and "things," we can hone our sensibilities and find peace of mind in our daily lives. Naoki Sakai's work creates connections between people and "things" and directs space. There are many "things" around us. The homes we live in and the bedding we sleep on are all supported by "things." We choose "things" to create our lives, and at the same time, "things" enrich our lives.
Although Sakai-sensei is a craftsman who makes such "things," he felt frustrated that he could not express the meaning of crafts in his own words, so he went to Ishikawa to trace the roots of crafts. There, he witnessed a scene that could be said to be the ideal form of practical beauty that Sakai-sensei aims for. Crafts are rooted in life, and indigenous beauty supports life. Beauty and living were intertwined. It is a feast of everyday life and beauty that is easy to forget when living in an ever-changing city.
We who live in Japan have a unique sensibility nurtured by the changing of the seasons. Professor Sakai's work, which uses wrought iron to create a space, makes us aware of this unique Japanese sense of aesthetics. Forms with a lot of white space, slightly distorted straight lines like those found in nature. The shadows of the work change shape depending on the hours of daylight. Beauty is embodied using the technique of wrought iron.

Furthermore, precisely because of their simplicity, Sakai Sensei's works are not completed by the artist alone. A dialogue is born between the artist, the environment, and the viewer. Naoki Sakai's works are only completed when these three become one. The artist who creates the "thing" communicates with the materials used to create the work and ponders what it will look like once completed. In the environment in which the work is received, the viewer takes measures to make the work and the environment beautiful. Sakai Sensei's works are not limited to just looking at the work, but have the appeal of honing the perspective of observation and the intelligence of appreciation and observation.

"Manufacturing is about developing people," says Professor Sakai. As people interact with and move around, the "things" speak to people, and people gaze into the space. People, "things," and the environment. Naoki Sakai continues to express the atmosphere in which everything circulates naturally using wrought iron.

Naoki Sakai

(1973)
Born in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture
(2003)
Completed the Forge Metal Research Laboratory at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts and obtained a Ph.D.
(2003-2005)
Part-time lecturer at the same university
(2005-2008)
Training at Kanazawa Uriyama Craft Workshop
(2010-2012)
Part-time Lecturer, Kanazawa University
(2011-2012)
Part-time Lecturer at Kanazawa College of Art
(2013 to 2018)
Kanazawa Ushiyama Craft Workshop Specialist
(2024)
"Naoki Sakai: Wrought Iron" Ginza Ippodo Gallery
(the current)
Tohoku University of Art and Design, Department of Fine Arts and Crafts, Associate Professor

Awards
(2003)
Winner of the Nomura Art Award (collection of the Tokyo University of the Arts Museum)
(2010, 2013)
Kanazawa City Crafts Exhibition World Crafts City Declaration Commemorative Award
(2012)
Arts and Crafts Promotion Sato Foundation Wassui-O Award
(2012, 2015)
Japanese Traditional Metal Crafts Exhibition, Soukeikai Award
(2013)
World Craft Competition Runner-up
(2016)
Tableware Awards Grand Prize and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award
Ishikawa Traditional Crafts Exhibition Encouragement Award Soukeikai Public Interest Foundation Soukeikai Grand Prize
(2017)
Asahi Shimbun Award at the Japan Traditional Metal Crafts Exhibition
(2018)
Germany Berlin Humboldt Forum Tea Room Design Competition Grand Prize
(2021)
Kanazawa City Cultural Activity Award
(2022)
Creative Tradition Award
(2024)
Received the Encouragement Award at the 44th Pola Traditional Culture Awards