Akira Kamada is a sculptor and installation artist whose central concern is the impact of human behaviour on the natural environment, and on our overall social fabric, combined with an artistic respect and reverence for the beauty of natural materials.
Born in Japan in 1955, Kamada studied photography and painting before immigrating to Australia in1987. While working as a landscape gardener, specializing in contemporary Japanese garden design, he studied ceramics and sculpture and began exhibiting in group shows and public exhibitions from the early 2000s. In 2003 he was commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW to design and construct four contemporary Japanese gardens in conjunction with the Japanese seasons exhibition, and in 2005 he was invited to join Art of Flowers and Art and About at Government House. Over this period however, he began to focus more on creating large sculptures, working mostly with recycled timber. He received a Highly Commended award at the Thursday Plantation 9th East Coast Sculpture Show in 2004.
2021 SWELL ARTWORK – Yura Yura, Akira Kamada
Yura Yura is a Japanese onomatopoeia describing something rolling or floating in water. Our waterways and our ocean currents have long been a means of transportation. They facilitated fishing and trade for our First Nations People for thousands of years; more recently they brought explorers,
colonizers, immigrants, refugees and trade. Today they provide leisure as well as livelihood.
Representing our watery pathways, of the past & present this work is located to allow it to interact with the elements: the sun, the moon, the winds and the salt air.
Instagram: #akirakamada
Come and see for yourself at SWELL Sculpture Festival, Pacific Parade, Currumbin 10-19 September.