Goldfish Salvation by Riusuke Fukahori

An artist who uses every day life as an inspiration is, Riusuke Fukahori. We see this within his work, “Goldfish Salvation.” This is a truly one of a kind work of art. This artist’s technique is perfect for our exhibition, since it captures the motion of the subject. Riusuke’s artwork is a combination of sculpture and painting. His highly-detailed work is done by meticulously layering acrylic paint with resin castings. This is done section by section, according to Designboom, “Fukahori builds up the fish with fleeting brushwork, resulting in an effect that resembles motion blur underneath water.” ²
Riusuke Fukahori’s work is often referred to as “living sculptures”. One look at them and it is easy to know why. The sculpture’s ultrarealistic detail and 3D features capture the delicacy and motion of nature. The way the goldfish are swimming is even accurate. They are swimming around their tank as they would in real life. There is also a tube that is providing oxygen for them, even detailing the bubbles coming up from the bottom.
The message of this artwork is supposed to be the animated life of the goldfish, or the cycle of life. As can be seen, there are new fish being introduced to the tank, and they’re swimming in a circular motion. As the new, smaller fish are swimming clockwise, you can see them get gradually larger, eventually ending in the spot where the new fish are being introduced. As the smaller fish are swimming, they multiply, and there is less space in between them. Even when you freeze a scene, which this artwork tries to do, there’s always so much going on in nature, one gets a feeling of motion and energy.