Yoshin Ogata said “Stone Sculpture is like the water cutting through stone. As long as the water persists, there will gradually be a hole in the stone. Nature is important. Only when there is a natural presentation, regardless of attitude or skill, can one express the true meaning of creation.” He had been invited to Taiwan for Outdoor Creation Workshop of Hualien International Stone Sculpture Festival. Despite his age, he keeps a very fast creating speed. Japanese artists therefore call him respectively “the weirdo.”
Ogata was born in an artists’ house with high economic status. His family cultivated him of art skills until a war changed everything; he started to strive for a living without the chance to concentrate on arts. It was not until a teacher showed him a French book about sculpture did he start to examine his own heart, and was determined to keep on creating.
He worked as a fisherman for one year to save the money to go to Europe for studies. He started learning the basic carving in Italy in his 23. When he turns 26, he was introduced to stone sculpture. In 1990, he was invited to Basque, Spain, and completed a large sculpture that is 6 meters tall and 10 meters in diameter. This experience inspired him to travel everywhere while creating stone sculptures. Returning to create in the land of Hualien is like going back home to him. The happy feeling of his creation is to accumulate different experience in different places.