“In 2012, James was invited to partecipate in a group exhibition devoted to Ito Jakuchu, an eighteenth-century Japanese artist. Each designer was asked to create a piece inspired by his work. James fell in love with a drawing of a Giant Daruma by Ito Jakuchu, so he wanted to  make the drawing three-dimensional by making a mask of the Giant Daruma, accoring to Japanese tradition. A challenge to our craftsmanship and manual dexterity. We made the mould and the plaster cast, and then we applied layers of various kinds of papers, using a special glue. Once the glued layers had dried, we proceeded to the painting stage. In the end we made three masks. I never thought we’d manage it, nor did James”. MRI

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