Two stone sculptors from different decades united by Japan, Hiroyuki Asano, born 1963, raised and schooled in his native country, while the other, Yervand Zakian, born 1928 and raised in New York City, found himself in Japan at the end of WWII which would exert a profound effect on his artistic expression. Asano's six years in Italy and graduation from the Academia delle Belle Arti in Carrara likewise influenced his development. His Japanese mindset was transformed by western art exposure, at first towards soft white marble of semi abstract female forms, a non-native stone, then to granite in purely abstract shapes, circles, voids, alluding to the sun and moon, voids which captured the solar and lunar rays. Competitions and symposiums garnered him many awards and public commissions, along with small works for private clients in Asia and America.
After returning from Japan, Zakian studied at the Art Students' League under John Hovannes and earned a Robert Brackman Merit Scholarship. Graduate studies at Columbia University led to an encounter with Zen philosopher Daisetz Suzuki. The Zen approach consumed him. From geometric forms like eggs, he switched to free form sculptures in varying stones, marble, granite, sandstone, and limestone. Rarely repeating a shape, he focused on the material at hand until an inspiration captured him. Form and finish were prime. Never showing in a public gallery, Zakian sold privately to prominent collectors. One of his marble sculptures is shown in a New York apartment designed by the architect Paul Rudolph.
Comparing and contrasting two artists who stepped out of their own spheres demonstrates a creative comradery. They became part of the world sphere of artists, drawing on what preceded them and adding their own distinctive elements. Time and space bridged, they shared a common focus on form, surface finish and precision. Beauty was paramount.
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