Ryo Toyonaga: Mephistophelean March 2009

Between 1995 and 2003, Japanese-born artist Ryo Toyonaga produced some 300 ceramic-based objects in his Redkill Studio, a secluded cabin in the Catskill Mountains. These works, never intended for sale or exhibition, were driven by an energy welling up from the dark field of his subconscious, urging him to work. The exhibition at the Vilcek Foundation featured 18 pieces, chronologically chosen, focusing on Toyonaga’s ceramic-based objects between 1991, the year he began creating sculptures in earnest, and 2003, when he closed Redkill Studio.