Region: Quebec Born 1935, Japan

Bio

A sculptor, graduate of Keio University and member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Satoshi Saito has been working with Louise Doucet Saito, herself a sculptor, since 1963. In 1965, Satoshi and Louise travelled to Japan at the invitation of Tatsuzo Shimaoka. There they worked to produce two exhibitions of ceramics, in Utsunomiya and Tokyo. During this period, their circle of friends grew to include Shoji Hamada, Seimei Tsuji, Kyo Tsuji and Shoji Kamoda. Returning to Canada in 1967, they began working in clay, in Way’s Mills, Quebec. By the mid-seventies their work was no longer controlled by the demand of clay, but by the demands of their own plastic ‘’language,’’ the pursuit of purely sculptural forms, in clay, stone, steel and bronze. Major commissions include a fireplace for the Governor General’s residence in the Citadel in Quebec City, and a variety of works in granite, including Alba for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Allure for Nichimen Corporation in Osaka (1999), and Haru for the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower in Tokyo (2005). Finally there is Bridge Ascending, a major piece in steel for a private collection in North Hatley, Quebec.

Solo exhibitions: an exhibition representing Canada at the Fourth International Ceramics Symposium, the Koffler Gallery, Toronto (1985); a retrospective exhibition, Musée beaux-arts de Sherbrooke (1990); and exhibitions at the Contemporary Sculpture Centre, Tokyo (1992,1998) and at Canada House, London (2006) by the Quebec Government Office and the Canadian High Commission.

‘’Our work may be ‘dust in the wind’. Certainly I hope that forms we produce, their volumes and rhythms, bear some essential relation to time and to our everyday life. But more importantly, I hope they may articulate space in rhythms and proportions we would ideally like to find in our lives.’ (Canada House, 2006 )

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TAGS: Visual Arts| ceramics | sculpture