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Ko Yamazaki was born in Japan but at 17 he went to Paris to study before finding his second home in Italy, working with marble.

Today Mike Axinn and I are back in Studio Pescarella, on the outskirts of Pietrasanta to chat with Ko Yamazaki. Originally from Kyoto, Japan, Ko has been coming to carve in Pietrasanta, Italy, since 1992. We find him working in the sunlight, polishing marble in his outside workspace under a hot tin roof. On his cavalletti are some rounded Yin and Yang forms which he is polishing.

Born the child of teachers, Ko’s mother was an activist and supported many causes. At the age of 10, he was surprised to find that the summer camp he was sent away on, was for communists. This encouraged him to reflect on the impact of politics from a very young age. Ko’s early life was moulded by a rich blend of activism, creativity, and a sense of independence; he often spent time with his grandmother while his parents worked.

At 17, Ko left Japan for Paris and, although young, he was accepted at the Sorbonne to study art. Initially drawn to painting, he soon realized he didn’t enjoy the solitary nature of painting.

His father suggested he try Pietrasanta, a town renowned for its marble and artistic community. First Ko stayed with his father in his workspace, and took odd jobs helping out at the foundry and delivery jobs for the galleries.

Ko was captivated by the energy and possibilities of working with stone, and decided to stay. He describes his first attempts at sculpture, including carving his own hand in marble, an artwork that was stolen. Established artists, and artisans, helped him shape his learning, and develop his approach in conceptual art.

He works in wood while he is in Kyoto and stone when in Pietrasanta. He divides his working life between the two. He also sometimes creates in clay and plaster.

An avid reader, Ko has always been influenced by his Japanese heritage of the creation of paper.

Ko tells how he came to carve a black cardboard box in marble. He was pondering on how people often have that final cardboard box after they’ve moved house, which sits in a room, unopened. He always wonders why the owner never just opens it and empties it out. Ko wanted to create this box in the heavy material of marble to reflect the emotional weight of unopened boxes, and likes the contrast displayed by carving a paper object in stone.

Ko’s Japanese heritage inspired his fascination with transforming hard stone into forms that resemble delicate paper or books. He expresses a desire to preserve the tactile and cultural experience of reading and writing, which he feels is fading in the digital age. An avid reader Ko created a series on books.

He works in wood while he is in Kyoto and stone when in Pietrasanta. He divides his working life between the two.

koyamazaki.com

instagram.com/ko.yamazaki

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Sculpture Vulture is a podcast which we love, and if you haven’t discovered it yet, we’re sure you’ll enjoy it. Produced and presented by bronze conservator and restorer Lucy Branch of Antique Bronze in the UK, it offers insights shaped by her specialist work in sculpture restoration, war memorial conservation and bronze maintenance.

Lucy hosts conversations with contemporary sculptors, shares the stories behind historic statues, and explores the wider world of public sculpture. Her storytelling is shaped by her distinctive training: a degree in Art History with Material Studies from University College, followed by a Masters in Conservation from the Royal College of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

As well as caring for many much-loved UK monuments, including Nelson’s Column, Eros, Cleopatra’s Needle and the Albert Memorial. Lucy has also restored bronze sculptures by artists who worked in Pietrasanta, among them Henry Moore, Helaine Blumenfeld and Igor Mitoraj.

Lucy invited Sarah to share how Materially Speaking began, and to reflect on the artistic community of Pietrasanta. As they exchange stories of their favourite sculptures, Lucy introduces the idea of “sculptural tourism”, even imagining a sculpture passport for travellers and together they draw out insights into how we encounter public art today.

Lucy is also a writer and novelist, and you can support her work by exploring her books: Wax On Was Off: How to Care for Your Bronze Sculpture and Bronze Behaving Badly: The Principles of Bronze Conservation.

We also highly recommend her excellent podcast series, Sculpture Vulture, available on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts.

sculpturevulture.co.uk/sculpture-vulture-podcast

antiquebronze.co.uk

instagram.com/lucybranch_sculpturevulture

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Renowned sculptor Alex Seton tells us about his journey from a rural Australian upbringing to becoming a prominent artist known for politically charged marble works.
He speaks about how he became fascinated with marble at a very early age, and how he was influenced by his unconventional upbringing near an historic quarry.

His family spent his childhood in the Australian bush with no electricity, a sawdust toilet and no hot water. He and his three brothers studied in a small local Catholic school. Alex and Sarah met in the studios of Massimo Galleni, which has been his studio in Pietrasanta for the last 15 years, where he was finishing up The Tenderness Series. We learn how his passion for social change inspires his work and leads him to use his art to explore themes of social engagement, privacy, and identity.

Alex tells about a work he did for a sculpture competition in a hotel, which caused a visceral response from viewers - revealing those who had empathy for the homeless and those who reviled them. The piece is called Unsettled. Alex’s first shows included an installation where the gallery had their leather-topped benches replaced by marble versions, which all had bum prints in the marble. So when the visitor came into an empty gallery they would think “what am I looking at?”.

Alex became well known for his series of cross-legged, hooded figures with hollowed out faces from 2012, which he presented at the Hong Kong Fair, just before it became Art Basel. The hoodie seemed to him an egalitarian garment - worn as readily by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and by Martin Trayvon, the young man shot dead in Florida. Alex explains he can get obsessed with fashion items.

Alex did a series of works during the pandemic, one of which one touched Sarah deeply. Proposal for a Humble Monument was inspired by how, in a place called Bathurst, convicts used to hack away and pull out big blocks of lime. Alex considered all the monuments around the world being pulled down because they reflect our shameful colonial past, and wondered what we might replace them with. He decided something more humble would be appropriate, and so the Proposal For a Humble Monument was named to honour the pain of those miners.

Alex tells us how he came to name the piece Someone Died Trying To Have a Life Like Mine (2014) which pays respects to the many refugees whose lives were lost at sea trying to reach a better life.

alexseton.com

instagram.com/alexseton_

Massimo Galleni Studios, gallenimassimo.it

Sullivan + Strumpf Gallery, sullivanstrumpf.com