1972年千葉県生まれの金巻芳俊は、木という有機的な素材に独自の生命観を吹き込み、彫刻の枠を超えた表現を追求する現代彫刻家です。1999年に多摩美術大学美術学部彫刻学科を卒業。以降、木という素材のもつ時間性や質感、そして内なる生命に深く向き合いながら、「アンビバレンス(相反する感情)」や「複数の視線・顔」をテーマに制作を続けています。

作品には、一つの木の塊から複数の顔や視線が現れることが多く、それは現代人が抱える揺らぎや内面的な多層性を象徴しています。静けさと緊張感、現実と幻想、生と死といった相反する要素が共存するその造形は、木彫というジャンルに留まらず、心理的な深みと現代的な存在感を感じさせます。

木の持つ温もりや年輪の記憶をそのまま生かしながら、繊細な彫りと精密な彩色によって人間の内面を可視化する手法は、国内外で高く評価されています。台湾、香港、アメリカ、ヨーロッパなどでも作品を発表し、展覧会開催時には完売が続くなど、現在もっとも注目される木彫作家のひとりです。

主な展示歴として、2012年に「損保ジャパン美術財団選抜奨励展」にて新作秀作賞を受賞。2016年にはFUMA Contemporary Tokyo/文京アートにて個展「表象エフェクト」を開催し、以降も継続的に個展やグループ展を発表しています。2020年代には「意識のかたち」「Re:faces」などのシリーズを展開し、2025年には同ギャラリーで個展「明鏡プリズム」を開催。新作《プリズム》シリーズでは、人間の複雑な感情の層を多面的な構造で表現し、話題を呼びました。

Yoshitoshi Kanemaki, born in Chiba, Japan in 1972, is a contemporary sculptor who breathes a unique sense of life into wood, transcending the conventional boundaries of sculpture. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tama Art University in 1999. Since then, he has continued to explore the temporal, tactile, and spiritual qualities of wood, creating works that revolve around themes of “ambivalence” and “multiple faces and gazes.”

In his sculptures, multiple faces often emerge from a single block of wood, symbolizing the emotional fluctuation and inner complexity of the modern human condition. His works coexist in silence and tension, reality and illusion, life and death—expressing contradictions that evoke a deep psychological resonance beyond the framework of traditional woodcarving.

Kanemaki’s meticulous carving and delicate coloring techniques reveal the inner emotions of human beings while preserving the warmth and memory of the wood’s natural grain and growth rings. His distinctive approach has earned high acclaim both in Japan and internationally, with exhibitions held in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United States, and across Europe. His exhibitions frequently sell out, reflecting his standing as one of Japan’s most sought-after wood sculptors today.

Major exhibitions include receiving the Sompo Japan Fine Art Foundation’s New Work Excellence Award in 2012, followed by solo exhibitions such as Representation Effect at FUMA Contemporary Tokyo | Bunkyo Art in 2016. In the 2020s, he presented series such as Forms of Consciousness and Re:faces. In 2025, his solo exhibition Prism of Clarity (Meikyō Prism) was held at the same gallery, showcasing his monumental Prism series—works exploring the layered structure of human emotion through complex, multifaceted forms.

Kanemaki’s art blends the traditional essence of wood with a distinctly modern sensibility, quietly reflecting the intricate emotions that dwell within the human psyche. His central theme—the coexistence of multiple selves within a single body—imbues each work with a profound and ever-changing presence.

In Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s world, time and gaze intersect within the grain of wood. The quiet vibration of emotion within his sculptures resonates deeply with the hearts of those who behold them.