Yuji Honbori has been working on the statues of the deities with second-hand cardboard from around 2007.
Constructed by sticking pieces of second-hand cardboards, they look transparent from the front as if filled with the light of grace. Meanwhile, seen from the side, they turn into masses consisting of complex layers and sections. This gap between the lightness of the material and the volume as a statue gives his work peculiarity as well as peacefulness.
Through his creation, Hombori’s works make us aware that it is important to “reborn” items consumed in our daily lives. However, it does not mean that he is just engaging in recycling or environmental movement, but that his creation is based on the idea of “metempsychosis.”
This idea derives partly from his experience of a huge earthquake in Kobe in 1995, which made him feel reluctant to use first-hand materials. His statues reutilizing disposable cardboards looks as if to model the wishes of those who underwent the terrible disaster.
He has turned garbage into the deities as objects of worship, advocating “a paper (kami) thrown away, a god (kami) picked up” (parodying a Japanese proverb “while a god thrown away, another picked up” meaning “when one door shuts, another opens.”) Not only the surprise but also the dignity of his work cannot help but attract us.
---------------------Works
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TitleAizenmyo-o (Raga-raja)Size36×17×h36.5cmYear2018MediumCardboard -
TitleTaishakuten (Sakra Devanam Indra)Size27×48×h62.5cmYear2018MediumCardboard -
TitleBenzaiten (Sarasvati)Size32×16.5×h40.5cmYear2018MediumCardboard -
TitleBishamonten (Vaishravana)Size27×24×h74.5cmYear2017MediumCardboard
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TitleAizenmyo-o (Raga-raja)Size36×17×h36.5cmYear2018MediumCardboard
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TitleTaishakuten (Sakra Devanam Indra)Size27×48×h62.5cmYear2018MediumCardboard
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TitleBenzaiten (Sarasvati)Size32×16.5×h40.5cmYear2018MediumCardboard
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TitleBishamonten (Vaishravana)Size27×24×h74.5cmYear2017MediumCardboard
