Poems, Tales and Images

Artist Name:
Takeshi Yamada

Takeshi Yamada

Paintings:
Yamada was born in Osaka, Japan in 1960, and moved to the United States in 1983. Yamada has had over 300 art exhibitions, including 34 solo art exhibitions, at galleries and museums in Spain, the Netherlands, Japan and the United States. His artworks are part of the collection of numerous museums.

Yamada started producing a series of artworks inspired by horseshoe crabs after his first visit to Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York in 2001.

By combining the mythology of "Princess Otohime of Dragon's Palace" in China, "Tale of Urashimatarou" in Japan, stories of western mermaids, and the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, Yamada painted the portratit of Princess Otohime on the prosoma of a horseshoe crab shell as a ceremonial spiritual object at "Palace of Ocean."

He has also produced a series of "Warriors Ceremonial Masks" on horseshoe crabs as ceremonial objects similar to the Japanese "Haniwa" at Palace of Ocean. "Haniwa" is a clay-image figure to be buried with emperors and kings to protect them in the after life. Their facial expressions and helmet details were painted after careful examination of the intricate patterns appearing on the horseshoe crab shells.

Pen and Ink Drawings:
Yamada began producing new series of pen and ink drawings inspired by the horseshoe crab after visiting Delaware to attend the annual horseshoe crab survey organized by ERDG. The drawings are made using his original homemade dipping pen, made of the tail of a dead horseshoe crab.