Exploring Kazuyan's Erotic Dolls: A Tradition Reimagined

Simultaneously following the tradition of netsuke and ningyō, Japanese artist Kazuyan (Kazunari Araki) creates dolls inspired by shungas, movie posters, works of contemporary artists, and scenes from nightlife such as strip teases. Kazuyan created a blog called "The World of Shunga Dolls" dedicated to showcasing dolls he has been collecting over time as well as his own work. In it, one can find step-by-step images of his creations and the references he uses. To make his dolls, on a 1/12 scale, he models them with stone powder clay, having a wire skeleton as the core.

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The Picture of the Lonely House on Adachi Moor

One of his most interesting works is based on the print “The Picture of the Lonely House on Adachi Moor (Oshû Adachigahara hitotsuya no zu)”, published in 1885, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. With it, Kazuyan managed to reinterpret Yoshitoshi's print, capable of placing us in front of the horrifying events narrated by the legend. To give realism to his pieces, the artist reproduced kinkaku techniques and elaborated his own scenario, somewhat different from Yoshitoshi's print, but still dialoguing with them harmoniously.

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Stinky Monk

Kazuyan also creates dolls based on works of contemporary artists, such as a print by Toshio Saeki. The composition shows a robust monk holding a pipe and having sex with a woman tied up with a Japanese hairstyle. Although in Toshio Saeki's image the lower body is not shown, Kazuyan reproduced the scene showing sexual penetration. According to the artist: "I mixed imagination and creation and made a three-dimensional sculpture of a stinky monk punishing a donor's daughter while raping her." By including various accessories, such as posts to connect the tied rope, a screen to hang the kimono, a cigarette tray, and a pipe, made of various materials, such as cypress wood, Kazuyan managed to create a diorama inspired by Toshio Saeki's print, capable of catching our attention for the reinterpretation he makes and for his ability to bring it to life through small details like the armpit hair of the young woman.

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Mermaid's Sex

Another print by Toshio Saeki, in which a man penetrates a mermaid's sex with a branch, is unusually adapted by Kazuyan, exposing the characters' genitals and exchanging the branch for a dildo. This work has already been presented here at Shunga Gallery by Darya.

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Inflated

Right after this piece, the artist made another version of yet another print by Toshio Saeki. This time, his dolls are created from the image of a woman we don't know if she's pregnant or if she's being inflated by her husband as if she were a tire. Once again, Kazuyan recreates the scene with details that allow us to perceive Toshio Saeki's work in an unusual way as if we were looking at it for the first time.

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In the extended Premium edition the impact of the infamous Western movie Soldier Blue (1970) Kazuyan saw in his childhood, his "48 sexual positions" project, his strip tease dioramas, 100 detailed "doll" images and more...

Click HERE for the six laughing balls or shunga oeuvres in a nutshell