Bear: Glittering

Sano’s signature works are his cunning, panda-like bears (Kuma-san), which he arranges in unusual settings meant to express social satire. The body of this exemplar is covered in mother-of-pearl, as is the pedestal-like cube it stands on. The craze among Japanese high school girls to decorate their belongings with glittering plastic bits inspired him to make this satirical piece. He shaped the core of the bear from polyurethane foam, covered it with lacquer using the kanshitsu technique, and finally adorned it with iridescent mother-of-pearl—a process that took about half a year.