Metalwork by Yurico Saka, representing different types of flowers, holds freshness as if they have just bloomed and been picked.
It is surprising how her technique is able to achieve such a soft texture with metal, which is a solid material. To understand the work more deeply, we perhaps need to trace back the origins of metalwork as a craft.
As we can see in the burial accessories from Kofun (Japanese ancient tomb), craftwork including metalwork has existed since ancient times. But it was in the Edo period when the basis of the Tokyo Metalwork technique was built, which Yurico has mastered.

During the peaceful period of Edo, high-ranking Samurai clans such as Daimyo (feudal lord) sought beauty in weapons, guards of swords for instance, whereas wealthy commoners tended to compete with each other for their elegance through the design of pipes or Netsuke (carved ornaments). Under this tendency, the techniques of metalwork were immensely developed.
When Bakufu (shogunate government) came to an end, metalwork seemed to be ending too as it lost its biggest supporters. However, metalwork evolved in an unexpected way. Delicate craft techniques, developed through making the decoration of swords (the technique referred as ‘transcendence’), became useful to produce incense burners and vases, which gained the position of artworks for export.
Due to the shift in the cultural movement of the West, this role of metalwork did not last long, but the traditional skill has been passed on for generations thereafter, mainly in the downtown area of Tokyo.

Being taught by masters in the last generation of metalwork developed in Edo (former name of Tokyo) such as Teruyuki Tanaka, Shoei Saito, and Ikka Nakajima, Yurico has mastered techniques including engraving, chasing, repousse, and inlay.
I once visited Saito-sensei with Yurico. There was a hanging scroll with beautiful calligraphy on display in his studio. I asked who’s work it is. It was his, actually. I was astonished that he is not only a master of metalwork, but also calligraphic work and painting. But apparently it is one of the important fundamental abilities that craftsperson should have.
Yurico is also a person who followed the teachers and learned calligraphic work and painting, as well as the art of flower arrangement. To master so many cultural skills, one needs a not inconsiderate amount of time. I think that she is therefore a rare craftsperson today, where people want to see an outcome immediately.
The secret of the freshness in Yurico’s jewellery is in the rich artistic world spreading behind her craft technique. Some might be used as a clip for Obi sash belt, or maybe as a brooch… Those flowers become even more lively when they decorate people who appreciate the richness of the world of art.

Hirotaka Haruyama
KOHARUAN