Portrait of a Shadow: An Interview with Kazuhiro Tsuji by Decadence Darling

Dick Smith taught you a lot about art, but what did he teach you about life?

What he taught me was that no one has the answer for your life. You are the only one who knows the answer. He showed me that he was not perfect. I think in human nature people are eager to get the approval or prove themselves who they are. That’s when conflict happens inside and outside, because nobody needs to be approved by anyone. People try to get approval from people who don’t care about them. And those who care just embrace who you are. He had lots of ups and downs. I think I had that too. That’s something he showed to me to teach me. That portrait I made for his 80th birthday and I considered that was his present to me rather than it was for him. That piece taught me a lot, and still does. When I was sculpting it I was thinking about him and going through different moments I spent with him, that process was like reading back the diary and it was a therapeutic process.

 

https://beautifulbizarre.net/2015/05/07/portrait-of-a-shadow-an-interview-with-kazuhiro-tsuji/