French-made leather (layers of leather)
Wood (Inside)
L150 x W90 x H3500
“Everything, all sorts of things in the world, appear through multiple-lens spectacles as different aspects of the shoe’s form to me.” Misawa gained this special vision naturally during his ardent quest for beauty of Shoes. The perspectives of the Shoe by the lens changes since Misawa is able to select one freely from the well-organized, archived data in his brain’s library. When the images or after-images of the varied objects that appeared through the special lens combined with the shoe vision selected from this library, consciously or unconsciously, they form an image in his mind - Misawa’s art piece is born.
Misawa creates and exhibits his art pieces while working as an experienced shoemaker. In his recent works, “Vehicle” (2019) and “Foot’s Nest” (2020), Misawa presented a new interpretation of the Shoe; in this new work, he went back to his basics. Using a classic shoe, a lady’s oxford boot from the 1900s, he transformed its esthetic lines to create the impression that it was attacked by a mouse like a piece of cheese in animations - such a humorous leather sculpture gives one a chuckle. He said that the images recalled in his mind during the process of creation were after-images of Isamu Noguchi’s works that he saw at The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in NY, several years ago. “Be humble for all arts. There are hints within every art.” This was said by Ichiro Inomata, a leather crafts artist, who was Misawa’s great mentor as an artist. Inomata’s words are an Misawa’s inspiration for his creations.
His new work is humorous, yet, the missing parts imply that there is something world-shaking threatening our lives. The spreading of the novel corona virus forces us to change our set of values, life style, and social system whether we want to or not. Misawa used the boot, a symbol of tradition; despite its grace of curve, he destroyed it boldly, and created the figurative piece that had never been seen before. This piece created by Misawa’s hands resulted in an image with “new form“ that we look for.
This leather sculpture evokes heavy and dark images covering the world, which Misawa sophisticatedly sculpted into a union of grace of curve, airy motif and humor. Although we are in a difficult situation with no clear exit, nevertheless, let’s get through this challenging time with laughter - Misawa injects hope into this piece.
