Unpredictable forms born from the transformation of materials.
Moving between contemporary art, craft, and product design, Ryota Akiyama explores new relationships between materials and form.
Born in Tochigi Prefecture in 1993, Akiyama graduated from the Department of Industrial, Interior and Craft Design at Musashino Art University in 2017. He is currently based in Mashiko, Tochigi, a town renowned for its rich tradition of ceramics.
In 2019, he founded the design group DraadD, and in 2020, he participated in the formation of the design collective MULTISTANDARD. His work has since been presented both in Japan and internationally.
At Rurbanism, we are pleased to introduce Akiyama's Crack and Shrink series.
Surfaces fractured into intricate patterns.
Organic forms with an almost artificial silhouette.
Resembling objects weathered by nature over time, or ceramics shaped by earth and fire, these works quietly challenge our familiar perceptions of materials.
The works are made from polystyrene (Styrofoam), an industrial material commonly used in construction.
By layering various paints onto its surface and applying heat, Akiyama draws upon the material's natural tendency to shrink, allowing cracks, distortions, and complex textures to emerge.
Heat is applied. The material contracts. The surface begins to fracture.
Within this process lies the artist's intention, yet also the unpredictable behavior of the material itself, something that can never be entirely controlled.
Embracing these accidental transformations, Akiyama responds to the changing material, gradually guiding it toward its final form.
In some ways, this process echoes the practice of ceramics, where the artist entrusts part of the outcome to the earth and fire.
Forms born through the act of firing, without the use of clay.
An industrially manufactured material, transformed by the primal force of heat, gradually takes on the appearance of something shaped by nature over countless years.
The artificial and the natural.
Intention and chance.
Craft and design.
Elements that might seem contradictory quietly coexist within a single work.
At the heart of this approach is not simply the desire to impose a predetermined form upon a material, but a willingness to listen to its inherent capacity for transformation.
Every crack, every distortion, every unexpected change.
Together, they become the distinctive character of each work, giving rise to forms that can never be repeated in precisely the same way.
When placed within a space, these forms do not seek to assert themselves. Instead, they establish new relationships with the objects and surroundings around them.
Alongside furniture that has gathered the passage of time, and vessels shaped by earth and fire.
Different materials, different histories, and different approaches to making come together naturally within a shared space.
Through the work of Ryota Akiyama, Rurbanism invites you to discover the beauty inherent in the process of creation, and the possibilities of form that exist beyond conventional boundaries.
