Takashi Sonoda
Born in 1989 in Kumamoto, Japan, Takashi Sonoda is a contemporary artist who explores the physical relationship between the body, nature, and place through the concept of “self-transformation.” Rooted in sculpture, his multidisciplinary practice spans performance, video, installation, and painting. He is currently based between Germany and Japan.
After completing his MFA in Sculpture at Hiroshima City University in 2014, Sonoda entered the doctoral program at the same university and later withdrew in 2017 after completing the coursework. In 2023, he completed the Meisterschüler program under sculptor Jochen Breme at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Germany.
At the core of Sonoda’s artistic practice lies a fundamental inquiry into the hidden forms behind natural phenomena. Through performances in which he physically transforms himself into plants, ice, or animals, he explores the origins of form and transformation to generate new narratives. Particularly inspired by Goethe’s The Metamorphosis of Plants, his work investigates the intersection of body and nature, engaging both visual and bodily perception. This results in a unique approach that merges theoretical grounding with improvisational physical experience.
園田 昂史（そのだ たかし ）
1989年熊本県生まれ。彫刻を基盤としつつ、「自己変容」の手法を通じて自然や場所との身体的関係を探るアーティストです。ドイツと日本を活動拠点とし、彫刻、映像パフォーマンス、インスタレーション、絵画を横断する多彩な表現で知られています。2014年に広島市立大学大学院芸術学研究科彫刻専攻を修了後、2017年に同大学院博士後期課程を満期退学。さらに2023年には、ドイツ・アラヌス大学芸術社会科学大学院ヨハン・ブレーメクラスのマイスターシューレ課程を修了し、彫刻家ヨハン・ブレーメの指導を受けました。園田氏の制作活動の中核には、「自然現象の裏側に潜む形態」への問いがあります。自身を植物や氷、動物などに変じるパフォーマンスを通じて、形の生成や変化の根源に迫り、新たな物語を生み出しています。特に植物変態論（ゲーテ）から着想を得た身体と自然の交錯の表現は、視覚と身体感覚を通じた思索を深めています。これは理論的な裏づけと即興的な身体経験が交わる独自のアプローチです。
Awards and Grants
2022 “Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation”
2022 “Rundgang Preis 2022 Alanus Hochschule”
2021 “EU-Japan fest Japana Committe”
2019 “DAAD-Preisträger 2019”
2018 “Pola Art Foundation, Grants for Overseas by Young Artists, Deutschland”
Fellowship Artist in Residence
2025 “Kunsthalle Kleinschönach”, Deutschland
2024 “AIR motomoto”, Japan
2024 “Omega B”,Überlingen, Deutschland
2023 “Kunsthalle Kleinschönach”, Deutschland
2023 “Exploring Larvikite “, Norway
Solo Exhibitions
2024 “Green Piece” / AIR motomoto, Japan
2023 “ Wie ist dein Name Jetzt? ” ( What is your name now ?) / BauSchau Düsseldorf, Germany
—— “ Distant Flowers ” / University of Alanus, Alfter, Germany
2022 “ Flowers of Scotland ” / Freiheitaushalten, Köln, Germany
—— ” I Am Also Being Watched by Seagulls” / Kurfürstliches Gärtnerhaus, Bonn, Germany
2021 “Orange and Black” / (Haus der Alfterer Geschichte, Germany
2018 “Countershade” / Hiroshima Art Center, Japan
2016 “Sudden Memory of the Name of the Cobblestone I’ve Always Seen” / Yokogawa Souen, Japan
Group Exhibitions
2025 “CODE COLOGNE” Kunsthafen, Köln
—— “Haru / Frühling 春” Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg
—— “Das Nest in der Wasserpumpe”Zündorfer Wehrturm, Köln
2024 “ARTE CARTE – Art on Paper” / Galerie Rosemarie Bassi
—— “SANTEN” / Omega B, Überlingen, Germany
—— “From the Depth of the Surface” / Xian, Rauscherstr. 17, Vienna Brigittenau
2023 “Exhibition in Kleinschönach” / Kunsthalle Kleinschönach, Germany
—— “the other” / Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany
2022 “ 一席之地 Verortung ” / Externe Ausstellung 2022 Gallery Cubepuls im Topfhaus AlterBotanischer Garten Kiel, Germany
—— “ Duo Exhibition Takashi Sonoda, Tatsuma Takeda ” /Seiriki Art Museum, Fukuoka
—— “ Our Attitudes ” / Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto
—— “Utopia” / Kunstverein Burgwedel, Isernhagen
—— “ Somewhere? Gambi ” / Exhibition window in the underground Plaza at the South Exit ofHiroshima Station, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima
—— “Mixed Bag” / K49, Goltsteinstraße 49, Cologne
—— “HUMAN ANIMAL” / Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany
2021 “C.A.R.” / Essen, Germany
—— “Meanwhile” / Gallery cube＋, Kiel, Germany
—— “Parade.creole” / Pop-Up Pavilion, Kiel, Germany
—— “Abstecher” / Danziger Straße, Hamburg, Germany
—— “Space and Art” / Altenburg, Germany
—— “Virtual Exhibition at Kunstforum 99” / Rheinbach, Germany
2020 “C.A.R. / Essen, Germany
—— “Discipline and Order” / KUNSTHAUS RHENANIA, Cologne, Germany
2019 “Forms of Salt” / Wohnzimmer Knipsgasse, Alfter, Germany
—— “Art and Space” / Social Therapeutic Communities Weckelweiler e.V., Germany
—— “Scheduled” / Künstlerforum, Bonn
—— “Roisdorf HALLE Exhibition” / Roisdorf Halle, Germany
2018 “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2018” / Iduharamachi in Tsushima City, Former Tsushima City Kuta Elementary School, Nagasaki
2017 “Kikuchi Art Festival vol. 2” / Ryumon Elementary School, Kumamoto
—— “DMZ (The Demilitarized Zone) Art Festival” / DMZ, Korea
—— “Artists Come to Mashiki: Exhibition “Soul and Form of Kumamoto” by Artists from Kumamoto” / Inukai Art Museum, Kumamoto
—— “Tsushima Art Fantasia 2017” / Shinwa Bank Show Window, Tsushima, Izuharamachi, Nagasaki
—— “Hachi no hana – hana no hachi (“Bee Flower – Flower Bee”) – Interaction” / Gallery Kosa 611, Hiroshima
2016 “The Second Autumn Festival at Hakata-Hankyu Department Store” / Ground Floor of Hakata-Hankyu Department Store, Fukuoka
—— “I Have a Cat” / Space Dot, 10 Daecheong-ro Jung-gu, Busan, Korea
—— “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2016” / Shinwa Bank Show Window, Izuharamachi in Tsushima City, Nagasaki
—— “.com” / Hiroshima City University Art Museum, Hiroshima
—— “Greeting and Saying Goodbye” / The Youth Hostel, Bernkastel-Kues, Germany
2015 “The Early Action of Bees” / Marian House, Pelzstr 11, Alfter, Germany
—— “The Pleasant Sound” / o.N. Kunst Zeit Raum, Cologne, Germany
—— “Schrödinger’s Cat” / Science Center Bonn, Germany
—— “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA Hiroshima-Tsushima” / Izumi Museum of Art, Hiroshima
2014 “ZETSU-METSU-KO2” [“Thinking About Extinction 2”] / Hiroshima Art Center, Hiroshima
2013 “5・7・5 of Sculpture – Haiku Sculpture 2013 “Oku no Hosomichi” [“The Narrow Road to the Deep North”] – Sculpting through Form – “This exhibition was held at the following two locations: Art Museum of Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, Naha City, July Breer Gallery of Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai City, September
—— “Hiroshima-O HiroshimaFukushima” / Former Japan Bank, Hiroshima branch
2010 “Eda no Wakare Saki no Saki” (“Forked Branch, Future of the Future”) / First Phase (Hiroshima Art Center, Hiroshima) ,Second Phase (Handweaving Studio Teoriya LD, Hiroshima)
—— “Hiroshima-O Art Developed in Hiroshima” / Former Japan Bank, Hiroshima branch
—— “Chi-ku Chi-ku Fresh Contemporary” / Hiroshima Art Center, Hiroshima
—— “Heikin Hatachi” [“Average Twenty Years Old”] / Motomachi CRED, Hiroshima
2009 “CHIKUSENDOCONTEMPORARY” / Gallery Sendo, Hiroshima
—— “Kawa de Geijutsu” [“Art by the River”] / Hiroshima Motomachi Riverside, Hiroshima
Projects
2018 “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2018” [Management, Artistic Assistance, Artistic Involvement] / Tsushima City, Nagasaki
2017 “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2018” [Management, Artistic Assistance, Artistic Involvement] / Tsushima City, Nagasaki
2016 “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2018” [Management, Artistic Assistance, Artistic Involvement] / Tsushima City, Nagasaki
2014 “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2018” [Management, Artistic Assistance, Artistic Involvement] / Tsushima City, Nagasaki
2013 “TSUSHIMA ART FANTASIA 2013” [Artistic Assistance] (Tsushima City, Nagasaki)
2013 “Symposium on Stone Sculpture in Senyogahara” [Management, Artistic Assistance] (Jinseki-kogen Senyogahara, Hiroshima)
2012 “Symposium on Stone Sculpture in Senyogahara” [Management, Artistic Assistance, Artistic Involvement] (Jinseki-kogen Senyogahara, Hiroshima)