I trained as a blacksmith, most of my forging skill is a very traditional hammer and anvil.
My making process is very repetitive and painstaking, I found the repetition to be very meditative.
When I was little biology study was my favorite subject and one day my biology teacher
gave me the lesson how to use microscope and then microscope was excellent
because we could see a tiny creature dividing itself and that was the origin of my concept
My name is Junko Mori from Yokohama, Japan
I live in this little part of North Wales called Penllyn
here is very simple in a way but it's made inference in my work
I studied in Tokyo I took metalwork as a major subject it was a very short period
if you think about it, it's only two and a half years concentrated on metalwork
Most of projects was kind of first couple of years you've been given the brief
so you make a cup you make stands, chair or something like that
On the third year I've been received first time like a free brief do whatever you want
So I start cutting lots box-section, you know the pipe, a steel pipe at box section
I just chopped a lot and then I decide to weld it together without thinking, without design
that was very first time I tried, so that result was something I just never thought
and that's the thing I just got it, that's the my core of concepts; a thing's uncontrollable beauty.
I didn't feel professional, like I didn't feel like I could carry out a professional
so I took job in the welding factory, I became one of the seven-man team
and then I worked nine to five, it was just an ordinary job
there's so many welding method, the gas welding, TIG welding, MIG welding
there's lots of different metal, you have to practise what to weld
so everything practical knowledge about welding and fabricating
is from that experience and nothing arty, nothing whatsoever.
Mori Junko's art is fascinating because I think it takes the best of Japan and the best of Europe
and combines them together, there is really no one quite like her.
Oh, Junko is out there on her own, in terms of style but she's absolutely up there
as good as it gets with other artists they just do different things
Everything Junko makes is composed of many many many pieces brought together
in vast quantities sometimes and then she spends huge amounts of time and skill bringing it together
building up the object and just sort of honest robust bashing of metal.
And what I feel about her specifically witnessed through this piece that we have which is spectacular,
it's large it's one of her larger pieces and I think maybe her most ambitious I'd like to say it's her best piece
I can see that what she does is she's going from strength to strength and is taking on new challenges
We now have objects made in silver that are just so heavy and objects in steel that are so big
and that massive quantity of elements forming an object that I find brilliant.
I got vast range of hammers here, I go to the car boot sale and buy rusty old hammers
and then clean them and then texture the heads by angle grinder.
80%, more than that maybe, of my process is making components.
Lot of people mention my making process is repetitive and painstaking
I don't even question about repetitive process, repetition boring that kind of notion isn't exist doesn't exist to me
I found the repetitions very meditative, I used to forge obviously 100% made by myself
At the moment 90%, more than 90% I must say, the components making is done by assistants
then welding is a 100% done by me because the nature of the shape forming process
is it's almost I'm the only one can control that.
I feel that Mori Junko is one of those artists that is exceptional is very much her own person
What she's done is incorporated the best of Japan, the best of technique, finish, detail
with the idea of the overall picture that often is emphasised in Europe
and wedded the two together and what we have is a piece that is perfect really
The first time I saw it, actually I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it
first time I saw it I thought Wow, never seen anything like that before and then
the British Museum jumped in immediately and said we're having that
and I'm really proud because it's different, there has been nothing like it before.
Every time I make objects I often surprise myself something born in front of me
and then I think my work is a pretty good look in this context
I'm very surprised about that it's really rare and British Museum is the British Museum
it's a one off and it's extremely famous, when I told my parents they said oh!
So, yeah, it's it's amazing and then like it's rare to see contemporary stuff in the museum
so it's very amazing and quite brave of them.
To be able to display what I believe is Junko's best work means an incredible amount to me
it means that we have really taken the best of contemporary
Japanese expression through metal and are able to display it within this whole range
of twenty thousand years of Japanese art history I can't tell you how satisfying that is.
You don't pick up coral, beautiful coral in the beach, saying
oh this is because of this and that you don't even question or analyze like a most of Contemporary Art
Yeah I want people stop thinking too much I don't
I really wish even British Museum don't have any tag or title on it
Where who made or when made it's made beauty is in the oddness
and that's what I believe, because it's odd, it's unusual it shouldn't be there
but people drawing to your art caught their eye and then they start
imagining the story that by themselves that's art itself the process of artistic thinking