Valentijn Vanmeirhaeghe (°1978) obtained his Master's degree in jewelery design at the Academy in Antwerp in 2002, but left for Japan where he continued his studies at the Tokyo University of the Arts from 2013 to 2020 in the “Metal Casting” department and obtained a PhD in this discipline.
By revisiting and reinterpreting traditional craft techniques, he wants to create a tension between “new” traditional works and the viewer. He thereby encourages the viewer to actively participate in his world. Highlighting the differences between his Western way of perception and the Japanese environment where he has lived in recent years is another important way. Valentine uses well-known visual and cultural aspects of the art world, reinterprets them and combines the different views and opinions of East and West.
He arouses amazement with various elements such as innovative use of metal coloring techniques, bringing together traditional and contemporary techniques, the choice of non-obvious subjects and the special metal alloys for the casting. The casting shown is not limited to bronze casting, stainless steel, sterling silver, cast iron and aluminum are also used, because all these metals have specific intrinsic properties.