In the studio with Masaomi Yasunaga

For his first solo exhibition with Lisson Gallery in China, the Japanese sculptor Masaomi Yasunaga presents a new body of experimental and expressive vessel sculptures along with recently developed tablet works comprised of hand-made mosaic tiles forming intricate images. Renowned for his unprecedented production methods, Yasunaga’s work offers a re-evaluation of ceramic’s technical traditions and the vessel’s role in cultures across millennia, positing new expressive potential.

Inspired by cobblestone streets — which are shaped over time by countless footsteps — the exhibition centres around the notion of ‘stepping on the earth,’ conjuring a meditation on how human interaction and movement leave lasting traces and memories. Inspired by his upbringing within Japan’s Catholic minority and ensuing appreciation for aesthetics of Western origin, Yasunaga honours a global range of vessel forms and ritual objects. With titles referencing physical states of being — empty, melting, fused, molted, shedding, skeleton, flesh and bone — the artist evokes nature’s physicality and spirituality’s ascension into earthenware, eliciting an emotional connection with the viewer.

Masaomi Yasunaga 'Treading the Earth' open at Lisson Gallery in Shanghai until 19 April 2025.

Film credits:
Director: Takahiro Aoki
Director of Photography, Edit: Shinya Kitamura
Production Manager: Mizuki Kariwa
Editor, Subtitles: Naoki Kotaka, Atsushi Hamanaka
Thanks: Marie Sasago, Ayaka Hatakoshi, Yasushi Amano