Statement

WAGO is a sculptural work that focuses on the intertwined hands and feet depicted in scenes of sexual union in shunga. By isolating these bodily connections, the work shifts attention away from narrative or sexuality and toward relationships themselves.

Originally active as a sculptor, Kaneko’s first approach to shunga was to reconstruct its hands and feet as sculpture. Through this process, he observed how their contact and entanglement manifest within physical space, revealing relationships not as images but as spatial phenomena.

By translating planar imagery into three-dimensional form, WAGO explores how relationships exist, connect, and resonate in space. Even when removed from their original context, the hands and feet of shunga retain their intensity, continuing to suggest the potential of relational forms in three dimensions.