kohei nawa's swell sculptures are layered with heavy coats of foamed polyurethane

‘swell-deer’ by kohei nawa (2010)
image © omote nobutada
all images courtesy of scai the bathhouse, tokyo

in his series ‘swell’, japanese sculptor kohei nawa uses animal figurines as molds, layered with heavy coats of foamed polyurethane. the transformed surfaces serve as a metaphorical investigation into perception, using the tactility of materials to emphasis the ways in which we encounter objects in our daily environment. about the pieces, hayashi sumi, curator at the kawamura memorial museum of art, states: ‘the coating is not a ‘garment’ for shrouding and hiding things from our sight, [but rather] a membrane in its evolved form, resulting from the artwork reaching out to attain a new dimension and morph into something that is fundamentally different from its original form.’ ‘swell-deer’ has been installed at the newly opened hotel anteroom, a new hotel, gallery, and residence program project  in kyoto, japan. the work is exhibited in the entrance space for the building’s in-house gallery 9.5.

‘swell-tiger’ by kohei nawa (2010)
image © omote nobutada

detail of ‘swell-tiger’

installation view of ‘swell-deer’ at hotel anteroom kyoto

artist kohei nawa installing ‘swell-deer’ at hotel anteroom kyoto