Kazumi Hoshino Art for Sale at Auction

This is her story:

The 2011 Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium in Prospect Harbor, Maine, by all standards, was a smashing success. Here Hoshi is putting on the final bush hammer finish on her sculpture titled “Warm Wind.” Final placement of this large project sits proudly in Roque Bluffs, Maine.That material looks very hard. What is it? I asked.

“It’s a black granite that is quarried in Virginia called Jett Mist. I purchased it from J.C. Stone in Jefferson, Maine. It’s the first time I’ve used this stone. It is not very hard.

The 2011 Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium in Prospect Harbor, Maine, by all standards, was a smashing success. Here Hoshi is putting on the final bush hammer finish on her sculpture titled “Warm Wind.” Final placement of this large project sits proudly in Roque Bluffs, Maine.“The base it is going to sit on is made from Jonesboro Red granite from Maine. It was started when I participated in the J.C. Stone Sculpture Symposium, and it began as a 25x10x70 inch block. I’m finishing up by bush hammering it with a hand chisel. The title is Form of X and when I’m finished, it will be installed at the courthouse gallery in Ellsworth, Maine by the end of July.”

May I take some pictures of it?

“Yes, of course,” she said graciously, and as I set up for my first shot and began to fire away, Hoshi donned her respirator and eye and ear protection and continued striking the chisel where she had left off. Watching her pound away, hit after hit, was like watching a young girl full of enthusiasm creating her first college art project—and why shouldn’t it be?

Born in 1973, Hoshi was raised in Nagoya, Japan, and during those early years, yearned to be a designer while privately studying oil painting and sculpture. Years later, she attended the Tohoku University of Art and Design and eventually graduated with a degree in sculpture by 2000. It was there, she said, that she learned the art of carving the hard andesite and basalt stones that are much like those indigenous to Maine. Markedly, also at that time, she had learned to sculpt in wood and bronze, but she said, “It is the character of stone that has kept me imagining and creating stone sculpture over the years.”

The cold ring of the hammer had now ended as did my photo shoot, and the sculpture was lovely and remarkable, I thought, while staring at the oblique and elliptical, almost shimmering shape, much like the style I had seen in the photos of her at the 2011 Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium.

Her safety equipment was now off, and Hoshi was wiping the sweat she had earned off of her forehead, and with my interest peaked I asked:

What do you do before you begin a new sculpture?

“When beginning a new project, I usually draw it on paper as well as think about it and draw it in my head. I like doing both. I sometimes also build it in clay before starting. I like to see it in 3-D and build a miniature model of the design.

“When doing day-to-day work, I start slowly, and most of the time it is in the morning because I have the baby. She is just nine months old. We also have our seven-year-old son Ren to parent. Usually, I am only able to work four days per week.”

Where and when did you meet your husband Jesse?

“I met Jesse at the Nasunogahara International Sculpture Symposium in Japan 2004. Both of us were participants in a symposium there. We were married in Kyoto, Japan in 2006 and then moved to Jesse’s hometown here in Steuben, Maine. I grew up in the city, but now I’m living in the country and it is very different.”

I had always wondered if it was difficult for a relationship when both husband and wife pursued the same art form. Have there ever been trying times for either of you?

“Getting married wasn’t based on us being artists, but had we not been artists we never would have met. That said, being married to each other hasn’t made us competitive, but we do push each other to make good quality art instead of turning something out fast and selling it. That’s not competitive, but it is always a constant reminder for both of us to keep our quality, and that’s an important thing.”

Do you ask each other for advice?

“I don’t ask him a lot. If anything, he asks me—I think.” She laughs.

You were also a participant in the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium weren’t you?

“I participated in SISS in 2011. It was six weeks long, and I met many wonderful artists and did many things with them. I also met a lot of very nice community people there. I worked very hard every day on the large scale sculpture I was carving and liked being there very much.”

Did it change your life?

“It didn’t change my life, much—but it was a great experience.”

Have you participated in other symposiums besides Schoodic, J.C. Stone, and the Nasunogahara Symposium in Japan?

“Yes, I also participated in a symposium in Italy.”

Have any artists inspired you in the past?

“I haven’t had any strong favorites, but architecture, music, and arts of high quality as well as nature, inspires me. Living here within these woods also inspires me. Much of the time I use local stone. I didn’t realize there was so many different types in Maine, so moving here was a great opportunity for me to use this stone.”

And the future?

I’ve been producing art for about 20 years, and it is a part of my life. I would like to spend more time creating granite sculpture. I do want to do smaller things though. I also want to have a solo show next year.

“I just like doing art, and I like the stone—it is my life. When I am doing sculpture, I am focused and happy. I’ve been interested in it all my life, and I want to continue for many more years. Also, my family lives in Japan, and I would like to visit them with our children every year. When we visit, I don’t work—I just spend time with them.”

How about personal plans: more children?

“I don’t know.”

Will your children grow up to be artists?

“I don’t know that either,” she laughed.