ONI Statueのはじまり

2012年の暮れのこと。
ある海外のギャラリーから、突然、国際電話がかかってきた。
面識のないギャラリーだ。

「あなたのHPを見ました。立体作品は作っていないのですか?」と。

当時は、和紙を使った平面作品が中心だった。ところが、何やら思いついて、その日の午前中に鬼の立体を作り始めたところだったのだ。

「午前中にちょうど1つ制作していて、もうすぐ完成するところです。」と答えると、

「それをすぐにHPにアップしなさい」と言われた。

もちろん、帰宅後すぐに完成させ、HPに上げる事にした。

同じ時期、義理の妹が店を開くと言う。名前に鬼がついている。聞くと昔からのニックネームである。ちょうど鬼の立体「ONIKKO」を作ったと言うと、名前もちょうどぴったりだし、何かの流れなので個展をしましょうということになった。

その展示会の後に、大阪にある道明寺天満宮に行くことになった。
古武道のショーがあるので、息子に見せたら良いのではと知人が誘ってくれたのだった。

演技を見に会場に入ると、テオの名前を大きな声で呼ぶ方がある。境内におられたのは、15年前にイタリアに一緒に渡った由縁のある、その土地の名士の方だった。聞くと、ここはその方がずっとお世話になっている神社で、せっかくなので宮司に紹介しましょうと言うことになった。

名刺を交換し、テオの名前をじっと見つめて「あぁ、あなたは土師氏の流れですよ」と言われる。「ここは天満宮ですが、ちょうど境内に土師氏の寺もあるのです」と案内してくださった。土師氏が4氏族に別れ、そのうちの一つだということだった。

その土師氏というのが、古墳時代に王を埋葬する際、部下も一緒に埋める慣習を改め、殉職で亡くなる方を埴輪に変えた家系だという。自分もちょうどこんな立体を作り始めたところなんです、と話し、先祖のDNAですねと頷いた。

後日、その場所で津軽三味線と立体作品の奉納演奏をさせて頂くことになった。

鬼の埴輪に導かれたような一連の流れだった。


Story of ONI statue

It was the end of 2012.
I suddenly received an international phone call from an overseas gallery.
I had never met the gallery before.

I saw your website. Don’t you make three-dimensional works? I was then focusing on two-dimensional works using washi paper.

At the time, I was mainly creating two-dimensional works using Japanese paper. However, I had an idea and had just started to make a three-dimensional demon that morning.

I answered, “I was just working on one in the morning, and I’m almost finished. I replied.

He told me, “Upload it on your website immediately.

Of course, I finished it as soon as I got home and uploaded it to my homepage.

Around the same time, my sister-in-law opened a restaurant. Her name has a demon in it. I asked her about it, and she told me that it was her nickname from long ago. I told her that I had just created a three-dimensional “ONIKKO” of an ogre, and since the name was also a perfect fit, we decided to hold a private exhibition.

After the exhibition, we decided to go to the Domyoji Temmangu Shrine in Osaka.

An acquaintance invited me to see a kobudo show and thought it would be a good idea to show my son.

When I entered the hall to see the performance, I heard someone calling out Theo’s name in a loud voice. The person in the precinct was a well-known local man who had traveled with Theo to Italy 15 years earlier. I asked him about it, and he told me that this was the shrine that he had always been a part of and that he would be happy to introduce me to the chief priest.

We exchanged business cards, and he stared at Theo’s name and said, “Ah, you are of the Doji clan. This is Tenmangu Shrine, but there is also a temple of the Doji clan within its precincts,” he said, showing us around. He told me that it was one of the four clans of the Doji clan.

The Doji clan is said to be the family that changed the custom of burying kings with their subordinates during the Kofun period, and turned those who died in the line of duty into haniwa (clay figurines). I told him that I was just beginning to make such three-dimensional objects myself, and he nodded his head and said that it was his ancestors’ DNA.

Later that day, I was invited to give a dedication performance of Tsugaru shamisen and three-dimensional artwork at that location.

It was a series of events that seemed to be guided by the ogre haniwa.