Japanese artist, Makoto Tojiki, has made a name for himself in finding yet another way to turn LEDs into something astonishing. Born in 1975 in Miyazaki, Japan, Tojiki was originally educated in industrial design engineering. He graduated from Kinki University in 1998 and started working as an industrial designer. However, Tojiki found himself devoting his personal time to experimenting with light. One thing led to another, and by 2003, Tojiki launched a career as a full-time artist.While interior design and these candy-like jewels are other projects that Tojiki has dabbled in, his claim to fame has been his most recent series, No Shadow.The Man With No Shadow, 2009.No Shadow is inspired by the symbiosis of light and shadow, and Tojiki acts as a puppeteer to create beautiful works of light art that are ephemeral and mysterious as shadows themselves. Beginning with studying living organisms' shadows, Tojiki then creates immense 3D sculptures, sometimes with thousands of LED strands. Viewers engage in the work as they circle the sculptures, examining them from multiple angles and distances.Horse With No Shadow, 2010.Hope and Dream, 2012.The Blue Bird, 2009-2012.“Sometimes an object appears differently from how we remember it to be. Yet, this is often not because the object itself has changed, but it is caused by a change in the observer's perspective. This change may also be related to, and expressive of, the object's essence. My interest is in exploring, ‘When, and for what reason, does a person's perception of an object change?’ Through my work, I seek to stimulate how people see objects. By extracting its essence, I seek to express that which lies at an object's core.” —Makoto TojikiPhotos courtesy of Makoto Tojiki.@embovoy
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