Noriyuki Misawa

The moment you see one of his works, its presence stops you in your tracks and draws you in. His sources of inspiration range widely, from the waves painted by Hokusai and the graceful curves of a French horn to the landscape of a park designed by Isamu Noguchi. Layering memories and experiences of art gathered over the years onto the form of a shoe, he draws out shapes found nowhere else. Moving freely between footwear and sculpture, his works offer a new kind of art experience that pleasantly unsettles our familiar idea of what a shoe is.

Through solo exhibitions in cities such as New York, London, Paris and Rome, and collaborations with artists in Japan and abroad, he continues to explore the relationships among form, the body and place, with the shoe as his starting point. Works born of the inspiration he gains along the way have earned exceptional acclaim, including international awards and the honor of receiving silver cufflinks bearing the Imperial crest from Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress. Unafraid to let his imagination take flight in his designs, he keeps opening up new worlds.