Glitched: Sculptor Yoshitoshi Kanemaki
February 2, 2026
Detail of Kanemaki’s Urara Caprice (2023)
aaa
Left to right: Insight Prism (2025); Memento Mori (2014)
Spectator sports-wise, I’ve always been a homer, loyally supporting all my local teams. But if I’m being honest, the Seattle SuperSonics will always hold a singular spot my heart. Long before Seattle was established as a major sports market, the Sonics put this town on the pro sports map, predating the Seahawks, Mariners, and everything that followed.
Throughout the 90s, my holiday visits back from living abroad were dotted with catching a Sonics game or two. And when we moved back for good in 2000, we found ourselves living at the foot of Queen Anne, just a two-block stroll from Key Arena. With partial season tickets in hand, those were the salad days, pure basketball heaven in our backyard.
What I like most is how the bold surrealistic tone evidenced throughout Kanemaki’s work still maintains a degree of restraint. The result is sculpture that feels unstable but in a relatable way; figures that seem to exist between states, thoughts and/or versions of themselves. In a medium associated with permanence, many of Kanemaki’s sculptural works feel almost “temporal”, as if they might continue changing as soon as we look away.
If your’re interested, here’s a great in-depth article about Kanemaki from 10 years ago, including personal reflections about his own creative process.
Left to right: detail of Reflection Prism (2024); concept sketches for Urara Caprice series.