Woodworker Masashi Ito's solo exhibition, "Masashi Ito: Empty Trees | Containers for the Soul," is being held at OUTBOUND in Kichijoji from December 19th. In 2009, Ito moved his workshop to Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and opened LABORATORIO, where he continues to create furniture and wooden tools. As Ito explains, "I gave form to the feelings that inevitably seep into my everyday work," this exhibition is a solo exhibition that taps into the artist's own unconscious inner voice. In addition to familiar everyday objects like oval boxes and plates, the exhibition also features sword-like objects and highly abstract pillar-like sculptures created using the "Uzukuri" technique, which brings out the wood grain and clearly displays the tree rings. These are not merely decorative objects; each piece is uniquely designed to have a purpose. "If the owner can freely put their soul into the piece and it becomes a spiritual anchor, then it will have a purpose," says Ito.

Also at the same venue, new photographs by photographer Tatsuki Masaru, who won the 37th Kimura Ihei Photography Award last year, are on display framed in Ito's "Framed Box" work.

[Event Information]
Ito Masashi - Hollow Tree | Container for the Soul
Location: OUTBOUND
Address: 2-7-4-101 Kichijoji Honmachi, Musashino City, Tokyo
Dates: December 19th to 30th, 2012
Time: 11:00 to 19:00 *Closed on December 25th