We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Charles Osawa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Charles, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Most people characterize me as sustainable or recycling artist. I do not take offense from that but I need to correct this misconception. I use trash, or discarded items, because it reflects humanity the most. Not because I’m manifesting a sustainable conclusion. Perhaps I reflect everyone’s desire and am projected with what may manifest as hopes. But I must clarify my work and why it is being done.

When I was younger as a spoiled expat in Southeast Asia, the regional social structure unveiled many facets of opportunity and its structure of current humanity. When once given a chance, people were treated like trash, meanwhile the privileged took it all. The contrast of life quality provided by such social position had me realize the gaps and distance between each financial diaspora. No matter the intelligence, ability or the goodness of heart to be adequate, people were put in hierarchy, and so we treat each other like trash, and we all became trash.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My background is design, and my profession is Exhibition Design. I worked on notable large projects such as Andy Warhol retrospective, and luckily my position has always been Exhibition Design Project Manager. As a specialist, I am very proud of this career record.

Currently I produce fine art sculptures made from recycled materials and resin. I choose resin because it is most ideal for preserving trapped materials for a very long scale of time. My production mimics our current industrial system in mass production factories. I produce my design, master models, molds and do casts myself. It is really challenging to design fine art and produce as if I am a single-man “factory”, but being able to produce quality and quantity puts me in an unique position inside the art world.

My intent is to reflect our society and time. A portrait of society through what we discard. It is a good reflection.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn conventional life schedule when I became a true artist. According to those who knew Warhol, he “worked 24/7.” Of course it was a figurative speech, but it meant he never had a schedule. Artist is a condition more than a career, and once an artist, always an artist.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I do have several books that became important to how I approach producing art, and that is “An Eames Primer”. by Eames Demetrios. It is a very good book to study the principles of (Charles and Ray) Eames philosophy and their trajectory. My cynicism was raised by reading Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and “1984” by Orson Wells. Although, my positive satire is a fanfare to Kurt Vonnegut. Namely his “Slaughterhouse V” brought me irony and alternative mindset when challenged with sinister.

Personally, professor Eric P. Dollard’s lecture on the history and theory of electricity given at the Tesla Society has been the most influential video for me, as it opened understandings to the universe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.osawacharles.com
• Instagram: @charlesosawa
• Facebook: charlesosawa
• Linkedin: charlesosawa
• Other: TikTok: @charlesosawa Ello: @charlesosawa

Image Credits
all images shot by CHARLES OSAWA