Not Legos! Masuda Toshiya’s Amazing Digital Ceramics Artwork

WeXpats
2023/02/01

Cardboard? Legos? No, this is made out of clay!! Masuda Toshiya has been making “digital” artwork ceramics for years, and we highlight some of his amazing creations that make you do a double-take. 

We think Masuda Toshiya’s work speaks for itself, so let’s take a look at some of them. 

 

It’s incredible to think that all of these are layers and layers of clay carefully measured, sculpted and painted to create the pixelated look. 

 

For example, not only is the cassette player made of clay, but each cassette tape is also made in the same style to fit perfectly into the player. And the details on the player itself! The buttons and dials that look like you could actually push and twist them, the little switches at the top and the speakers! 

Here’s another example of Toshiya pouring details into every part of the work. 

 

Not only is the camera pixelated, but so are the polaroids! And take a look at the tambourine and mics and other works in the tweet as well! It’s easy to tell that each are masterfully put together. 

A Little About the Artist

 

Masuda Toshiya is an artist from Osaka who graduated from the Crafts Department of Osaka University of Arts. Since graduating from art school, he’s displayed his artwork in many solo and group exhibitions, including overseas. 

When asked why he started to create this type of pixelated art in his “Low pixel CG” series, he talked about wanting to capture

“The “image gap” that I can make by producing CG’s digital images, which do not have texture or reality, with “ceramic art” which has an entirely opposite image [than digital art] with texture and reality.

— Masuda Toshiya, from his website

Basically, his art brings 2D images, which doesn’t have a 3D form in reality, into real life to become something you can hold and feel. 

The Process

Get a small glimpse of Toshiya’s process of creating a work in this tweet. 

 

It involves long hours of measuring, cutting, painting, “pixel” by “pixel”. 

But the end result, as we can see, is incredible. 

Let’s look at more of his work. 

“Ripped” Book

It’s hard to “rip” a book like this in real life, but we’ve all seen it in anime and manga at one point right? This is a great recreation of what it’d look like, but pixelated!

Lighters with Flames

Choose your favorite color! Just beware of the flame!

Broken Bottle

First of all, it’s already incredible to create a bottle in this way, but the added effect of it being broken and liquid spilling out…amazing.

Blue Converse 

If you browse Toshiya’s Twitter account, you’ll see Converse in various colors pop up again and again. We’re a fan of these blue ones, especially the detailing on the soles.

Flower with 800+ pieces

Something a little different than the works above, here’s a work called “枯れない花” or “a flower that doesn’t wither”. But if you look carefully, it’s a vase made of around 800 individually created and painted tiny ceramic flowers. The dedication is just astounding.

Food:

And to close with a personal favorite, here’s a collection of pixelated food that he’s created! The takoyaki in the first picture in particular is really fun to look at!

To Close

 

Make sure to follow Masuda Toshiya on Twitter to keep up with his newest creations! 

And check out his website where you can see more of his work, find out where his works are currently displayed, as well as see some more videos about his work and process.

Photos provided courtesy of Masuda Toshiya (Official Website, Twitter)

Writer

WeXpats
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