From unwanted waste paper, gods arise anew.was my slogan when I started making cardboard Buddha images, and since then many people have picked them up, including at this exhibition, I have felt that there really is a god who picks up.
The cycle of reincarnation and recycling is linked, and the cardboard you take home from the supermarket is liberated as a Buddha statue.
The corrugated float of the cardboard cross section is burnished in the finishing process to give the appearance of a weathered and aged Buddha statue.
It shines from the inside like a halo that penetrates through, and inside the womb is a ring that prays for peace to become a soul.
I will continue to create Buddhist art that gives life to discarded cardboard and is revered by people, so that it will be picked up by others.
( Prologue to Yuji Honbori's solo exhibition, From unwanted waste paper, gods arise anew. )
「捨てる紙あれば、拾う神あり」を、うたい文句にしてダンボールの仏像を始めてから、この個展を含め、たくさんの方々から拾って頂き、本当に拾う神は存在するのだと感じました。
輪廻転生とリサイクルの循環がリンクし、スーパーでお持ち帰りするダンボールが仏像として解脱します。
ダンボール断面の波状のフロートを仕上げで焦がして、風化し古びた仏像の趣きを表します。透過し後光の様に内面から輝き、胎内には魂となる平和を願うリングを納めています。
捨てられたダンボールから輝く様な命を与え、人に崇められる仏像アートで、これからも拾われるよう制作していきます。
（ 本堀雄二 個展「捨てる紙あれば、拾う神あり」によせて ）
Yuji Honbori
Born in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture in 1958. Completed graduate studies in sculpture at Aichi Prefectural University of Arts.
Yuji Honbori skillfully expresses the sublime motif of Buddhist statues with used cardboard.
His works have been exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (U.S.A.) and have been highly acclaimed by art critics in Japan and abroad. In 2019, he was selected for the 22nd Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (TARO Award).
本堀雄二
1958 年兵庫県神戸市生まれ。愛知県立芸術大学彫刻専攻大学院修了。
仏像という崇高なモチーフを、使い古しの段ボールで巧みに表現する本堀雄二。
ミネアポリス美術館(アメリカ)に作品が展示されるなど、国内外の美術評論家からも高い評価を得ている。
2019 年「第22 回岡本太郎現代芸術賞(TARO 賞)」入選。
