Naoki Takeyama (1974-) is a charismatic young artist who wields the ancient technique of enamelling metal with an electric modernity, his highly distinctive creations calling to mind the avant-garde and asymmetrical designs of world-famous Japanese fashion designers of the 1980’s.

Head of his class at the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts, Takeyama has been recognised with a flurry of awards since his debut at the age of 24, while winning myriad awards since. With recent acquisitions by the V&A in London in 2008, the Birmingham and Plymouth Museums of Art in 2011, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 2012 and the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2014, Takeyama’s metalwork is widely seen as a stunning reinterpretation of an age-old art, ultimately proposing

to metal a wealth of new possibilities.

Pushing the boundaries of enamelled metal is Takeyama’s raison d’ȇtre, and his works embody the many elements that have brought Takeyama critical acclaim.

Incredibly, Takeyama first hand-pinches into shape riveting copper bodies that twist themselves into animation, using thin sheets of copper that are often pleated to absolute perfection. Further, rather than enamelling via the use of wires, the artist uses a small sieve and a bamboo paddle to apply a powder-base enamel glaze onto the body of the work that crystalizes after firing. After applying

the dry glaze, Takeyama fires the work in a small electric kiln, re-applies enamel, dries, and fires again, with the process repeated more than 10 times. After cutting out silver and gold leaf shapes, the leaf is meticulously applied by hand onto the body of a work with the utmost precision. An object is then fired nearly 10 times more in order to fuse the leaf onto the enamelled metal, with each firing warping slightly the form, in which Takeyama must readjustwith his hands again and again. As if in a state of constant flux, Takeyama’s enamelled works are an exquisite collaboration between metal and maestro.