Shota Hozu (b. 2007, Tokyo, Japan) is an emerging Japanese artist whose practice begins with East Asian calligraphy and extends into relief, sculptural text, and contemporary installation. His work asks how a written character can become an event of perception...
Read MoreShota Hozu (b. 2007, Tokyo, Japan) is an emerging Japanese artist whose practice begins with East Asian calligraphy and extends into relief, sculptural text, and contemporary installation. His work asks how a written character can become an event of perception rather than an object of immediate reading.
Drawing on ten years of calligraphic training, Hozu explores how written characters can move beyond legibility and become spatial, perceptual, and material experiences. His current practice centers on the three-dimensional transformation of characters. Through layered paper, wooden supports, light, shadow, and transparent structures, he reconsiders calligraphy not only as something to be read, but as something to be encountered.
Hozu is interested in connecting contemporary calligraphic practice with ideas drawn from classical Japanese aesthetics. In particular, he explores how concealment, distance, and partial visibility can awaken the viewer’s perception and response. Rather than treating characters solely as signs that convey meaning, he investigates how writing can generate an encounter between material, space, and the viewer.
His practice seeks to expand calligraphy beyond the traditional written surface and position it as a contemporary form of perception, silence, and resonance. His work has been exhibited in the Beijing Chaoyang District Calligraphy and Painting Exchange Exhibition. He received a Special Selection Prize in the All Japan Kakizome Grand Exhibition.
