Silversmith, Hiroshi Suzuki

Hiroshi Suzuki is a leading contemporary silver artist. Born in Japan he gained a BA in silver-smithing from Tokyo University, and an MA at the Royal College of Art in 1999. He creates complex forms from flat sheets of silver. Watch him at work as he anneals silver, raises a form from it with hammers, then uses hammers and a snarling iron to raise ridges in the work to add texture.

Suzuki believes that if a fully-developed idea already exists in his head there is little point in executing it. For him the excitement of creation lies in the way the piece evolves with his inner feelings. The inspiration for his work comes from within himself. As he works the metal, he feels that he is part of it, flowing and bending with it. He attributes this way of working partly to the Japanese aesthetics of freedom of expression and the finding of beauty in imperfection.

This second video is an artist statement by Hiroshi Suzuki: