OGATA Paris presents, for the first time in France, the work of Koji Takuma, a gemstone sculptor renowned for his elegantly carved quartz pieces. The series of works entitled Stonescapes consists of perfume bottles and small containers luxuriously carved from garden quartz. Quartz derives its beauty from the inclusion of minerals, condensing a mineralogical process that has taken millions of years. By carefully carving pure forms out of quartz, which bear witness to a geological history well beyond human scale, Koji Takuma brings them to life, transforming them into dreamlike landscapes. Each work becomes a microcosm crystallizing the raw beauty of the Earth’s work, an imaginary garden that invites contemplation and reverie. Following the great Eastern tradition of collecting and appreciating picture stones and other minerals, a tradition that has found an echo in the West around contemporary figures such as Roger Caillois, Koji Takuma’s work breathes new life into traditional craftsmanship by combining it with the principles of contemporary design.
About Koji Takuma
Born into a family of artisans specializing in crystal sculpture in Kōfu (Yamanashi Prefecture), where the majestic presence of Mount Fuji and other mountain ranges has formed rich crystal deposits, Koji Takuma inherited the family’s expertise in crystal carving while developing his own techniques that integrate the cutting of gemstones and metal into a single process.