Norio Takasugi - As the twig is bent, so is the tree (signed)

Norio Takasugi
As the twig is bent, so is the tree

Published by The(M) éditions, 2025
Size: 23 x 17 cm
136 pages
Hardcover
Limited edition of 300 copies

Takasugi, born in 1973 in Shizuoka, Japan, moved to Berlin in 2004 where he has since developed a unique artistic practice. His work navigates between traditional craftsmanship, contemporary design and fine art, creating unexpected bridges between these disciplines.

A graduate in craft design and sculpture, the artist has, since his beginnings, explored the complex relationship between industrial production and individual creation. This reflection found new impetus in 2014 when he turned to photography and explored the possibilities of analog techniques.

Takasugi's work underwent a decisive evolution with his creations on silver leaf, where traditional photography engages in a dialogue with ancestral Japanese craftsmanship. Mastering screen printing and the chemical reactions of sulfur on silver, he composes strikingly luminous botanical and landscape images.

Her works deliberately blur the lines: between image and sculptural object, between mechanical reproduction and unique piece. The characteristic sepia tones and reference bands integrated into each creation are not merely decorative elements – they bear witness to the artisanal process and underscore the uniqueness of each piece.

Through this approach, Takasugi revisits the concept of "aura" developed by Walter Benjamin: that irreplaceable presence that every authentic work possesses in its unique relationship to time and space.

His work leads us to rethink the traditional oppositions between artisanal and reproducible, intimate and monumental. He reveals the subtle links that unite perception, memory and materiality in our relationship to the image.