What distinguishes an artist from a craftsman? An obvious difference is the pricing of their work. Whereas craft products can sometimes be expensive, this usually reflects the time and trouble taken to make the piece. Art prices, however, are arranged on an exponential scale starting at almost nothing for unproven artists, but quickly accelerating skyward for those lucky enough to escape the market's gravity.
One such artist now in free float is Katsura Funakoshi, who makes highly prized figurative sculptures of legless mannequins in painted camphor wood.
Visiting his atelier, a former barber shop in Setagaya-ku, I have the chance to compare older examples of his work with the most recent examples currently on display at the small Nishimura Gallery in Ginza.