My mother’s name is Annie. My father’s name is Tetsuo. My brother’s name is Narito. Saying that these people had an influence on me would be an understatement. I wrote a book about my father Tetsuo Harada, the Japanese artist who emigrated to France in the 70’s. http://tetsuoharada.com/
I am very proud of my parents and what they have achieved working tirelessly towards their dream. I really think the work of being an artist is one of the toughest. The work an artist produces has no set price on the market. Some paint on a canvas, or a piece of rock can easily be worth nothing. It is only through the work of imagination, hard work, discourse, debate, social networking, promotion that the work of the artist can be elevated - yet always remain fragile in an extremely competitive environment.
The book, I decided to write right after graduating from the ENSAD (Les Arts Décoratifs de Paris) because I knew that I would leave France for my further studies - and perhaps for good. I worked with my father of course, but also with my brother Narito and my mother Annie, the photographer Hiroshi Nomura and many more. I looked after this project extremely closely, from planning the whole project, to sleeping next to the printer in the factory in French Britanny. We self-published this book the 2005/04/19. The book was launched at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Librairie Flammarion, one of the high place for the arts and culture in France. What an immense honor.
The first part of the book is similar to animation film: no text, only abstract shapes that tell a story using my father's aesthetic language.
The second part of the book is a conversation between my father and I. I ask him questions I have been meaning to ask him for years, to understand his inspiration, his intention, his message.
I believe my father Tetsuo Harada is one of the last masters of modern stone sculpture alive today. I see him in the line of Constantin Brancusi, Isamu Noguchi, Barbara Hepworth, Tony Cragg…
You can find his work all over the world.
I love you dad.
Go and check out his work on his website here: http://tetsuoharada.com/
And all of this could have never happened without the love, care and support of the whole family. I am the luckiest person ever.