IZUMI Keiji: Suddenly, a Landscape

IZUMI Keiji

IZUMI Keiji: Suddenly, a Landscape

2025 OCT 18 – NOV 23

Following the wide acclaim of his first solo exhibition, Hiro Hiro Art Space is pleased to once again collaborate with Japanese artist IZUMI Keiji in Taipei to present his latest solo show, Suddenly, a Landscape, on view from October 18 to November 23, 2025.

Renowned for his constructive approach to wood sculpture, IZUMI Keiji takes the human form as a starting point. Through meticulous observation, he bypasses the simple act of representation and gives tangible form to the ineffable qualities that constitute an individual: the subtleties of thought, the textures of personality, and the intricate web of emotional connections. He then translates these into an architectonic language of geometric components. Through this process, a person’s inner world materializes: thoughts swirl outward like a vortex, personality grows into a forest, and the inner spirit erupts in flashes of sparks. Ultimately, a landscape unfolds from the artwork itself.

The genesis of his creation begins with deciding on a person to sculpt, often an acquaintance. “For me,” Izumi explains, “they are less subjects to be depicted than ‘cues’ that prompt my inquiry into the question of what it means to be human.” He immerses himself in memories and imagination, contemplating the person’s appearance and essence before orchestrating an assembly of discrete parts. Rather than carving from a monolithic block of wood, he patiently carves and polishes dozens of individual elements, such as spheres, bars, or even metal frames. He then connects, fastens, and assembles these components in an almost architectural manner. Thus, qualities within a person’s character—their undaunted courage, unrestrained imagination, or bold curiosity toward the world—find a corresponding geometric vocabulary, becoming the very cornerstones upon which the landscape is built.

Certain connections function like joints that can be rotated and bent, allowing the parts to change angles with one another, granting freedom to the rigid materials and imbuing the structure with an organic, breathing sense of life. This structural dynamism suggests that the form is not a singular, fixed answer, but a latent field of possibilities, as if with a gentle push, this “landscape” built from wood would shift and transform to reveal a new configuration. This sense of fluidity echoes Izumi’s improvisational and non-predetermined state of exploration in his creative practice. The repetitive, labor-intensive process of carving and assembly is a physical manifestation of the artist’s internal search for a sense of “rightness.” Each piece of wood is fitted and joined as a test, until all parts achieve a subtle equilibrium.

Izumi also boldly paints these wooden structures with rich, vibrant colors. Upon the warm, natural tones of the wood, bright oranges, fluorescent yellows, tranquil blues, and vital greens appear. Color endows these abstract geometric structures with an emotional warmth and personality, allowing them to transcend material status to become visual embodiments of thoughts, emotions, or relationships. Thus, we see a dramatic, interwoven linear structure of saturated color erupting from a wooden figure, transforming into clusters of fiery light; elsewhere, a curtain of rain falls from the sky as a lush forest springs from the earth, collectively weaving a scene of myriad hues.

“In the process of contemplating ‘What is a human?’, a scene that resembles a landscape suddenly begins to take shape on its own,” says Izumi. “It’s not a traditional landscape of mountains and seas, but a spiritual landscape that grows from within a person.” Izumi invites the viewers to see not only the person in the sculpture, but the landscape that surrounds and blossoms from them, a landscape constructed from countless components, colors, and the profound act of contemplation.

IZUMI Keiji

作品

CV

1973  Born in Fukushima, Japan 

2001  B.A, Sculpture Department, Tokyo Zokei University  

2003  Completed Postgraduate Studies, Tokyo Zokei University

Solo Exhibitions

2025
“Suddenly, a Landscape”, Hiro Hiro Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

2023     
“Today we take a different path than yesterday”, Hiro Hiro Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

2020     
“Invention of K”, SHINBI GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

2019     
“PERSON – FORM”, The Art Club, Taipei, Taiwan

2013     
“Hairy to the bone”, ARATANIURANO, Tokyo, Japan

2009     
“Underarm Waterfalls”, ARATANIURANO, Tokyo, Japan

2008     
“Merging into one”, Galeria Punto, Okayama, Japan
“IZUMI Keiji Exhibition”, KINGYO Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2005     
“IZUMI Keiji Exhibition”, Yukobo art space, Tokyo, Japan

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024
“STUDIO KATAKURIKO EXHIBITION”, Yumikobo, Okayama, Japan

2022     
“KALEIDOSCOPE”, AISHONANZUKA, Hong Kong

2019     
“SUPER OPEN STUDIO”, STUDIO KATAKURIKO, Kanagawa, Japan

2018     
“SUPER OPEN STUDIO”, STUDIO KATAKURIKO, Kanagawa, Japan
“Obon night in Koide ke”, ZaisyohouseKoide, Aichi, Japan

2017     
“Spring Fever”, Komagome SOKO, Tokyo, Japan

2015     
“N COLLECTION: Ship of Theseus”, ART BASE MOMOSHIMA, Hiroshima, Japan

2014     
“COLORED NOISE for 8/02/CUBE1,2,3”, Shibuya HIKARIE 8/CUBE, Tokyo, Japan
“hard-working collectors / easy-going works”, YCC, Kanagawa, Japan

2013     
“New Year’s Party”, ARATANIURANO, Tokyo, Japan

2012     
“The 8th Zokei Contemporary Artists Show– Looking for a wonderland”, Tokyo Zokei University Attached Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2011     
“JAPANCONGO”, Le Magasin – CNAC , Grenoble, France
“A Toshiharu Miki Tokyo Zokei University resignation special exhibition: escapes a line”, GALLERY SAOH & TOMOS, Tokyo, Japan

2010     
“Living With Art-Contemporary Art from Japan and Taiwan”, Yi&C.Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
“手感的妙  PART 2: Contemporary Airy Crafts from Japan to Taiwan”, PROJECT FULFILL ART SPACE, Taipei, Taiwan
“Small Paintings”, ARATANIURANO, Tokyo, Japan

2008     
“Multiple Worlds”, ARATANIURANO, Tokyo, Japan

2007     
“Nakanojo Biennale”, Gunma, Japan

2006     
“Parallel pentagon”, Gallery Tanaka, Tokyo, Japan
“〜Gallery’s selects #14〜 STUDIO Katakuriko exhibition”, Art Spot Gallery / Sagamihara City Gallery, Kanagawa, Japan
“From Atelier”, Yumikobo, Okayama, Japan

2005     
“Our Summer Vacation”, Gallery Yuu, Kanagawa, Japan

2003     
“Contemporary Sculptures & Ceramisc Exhibition of Turkish-Japanese Artists”, Kyoto / Tokyo, Japan
“Hanadoki”, Spiral, Tokyo, Japan

2002     
“Triple Play”, Gallery LE DECO, Tokyo, Japan

2001     
“S-4”, Sumida Riverside Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2000     
“Fresh juice”, Gallery Seira, Tokyo, Japan

1999     
“Two body types”, Gallery Oishi, Fukuoka, Japan

Press