Kengo Takahashi

Kengo Takahashi is a Japanese contemporary metal artist known for working with astonishingly thin aluminium and high-precision casting techniques. His works often present a carefully considered structural complexity that generates a tension between opulence and stillness. The visual density produced by intricate structures is counterbalanced by the cool, restrained luminosity of aluminium, forming the distinctive aesthetic of his practice.

Takahashi completed both his undergraduate and master’s studies at Tokyo University of the Arts in the field of metal casting, and obtained his doctoral degree from the same institution in 2022. As a result, he not only possesses a solid foundation in technical craftsmanship, but also demonstrates a high level of sensitivity to theory. His practice adopts a highly inclusive attitude toward traditional metal craft and contemporary digital technologies, treating the two as complementary approaches.

Takahashi often focuses on natural subjects associated with transience, fragility, and death, such as flowers, bones, and other organic forms. Using aluminium, he casts these fleeting images and fixes them at a moment on the verge of disappearance. The lightness of ultra-thin aluminium resonates with the fragility of organic forms, allowing living forms to be held in place just before they vanish, creating a state suspended in time.

By translating transient life forms into precise and enduring metal structures, Takahashi’s works present a state in which life and death coexist. Life is compressed into a single moment that is infinitely extended, thereby detached from a linear timeline oriented toward decay. His metal boxes and brooches invite viewers to confront the impermanence of existence, with fragility becoming a temporal vessel that can be continuously observed and contemplated.