Yoshimasa Tsuchiya was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1977. After earning a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2001, he studied traditional carving techniques at the university’s Graduate School of Conservation for Cultural Properties, earning master’s and doctoral degrees. Since 2007, Tsuchiya has exhibited regularly at galleries in Tokyo and Amsterdam. He has held solo exhibitions at the Nakahechi Museum of Art in Wakayama Prefecture (2021) and the Karuizawa New Art Museum (2013), and participated in group exhibitions at the Towada Art Center (2008), the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (2010), and the Meiji Jingu Treasure Museum (2021), among others. His works are also held in public collections including the Takamatsu City Museum of Art, the Hokkaido Asahikawa Museum of Art, and the Arizona State University Art Museum. Using traditional Japanese Buddhist statue-carving techniques, Yoshimasa Tsuchiya creates animals such as deer, foxes, cats, and dogs, as well as mythical creatures including qilin and unicorns. Delicate and fragile yet imbued with mystery, these lifelike, spiritual animals reflect the artist’s special affinity for the mythic traditions of Japanese culture. Tsuchiya gives his sculptures a mysterious, elegant vitality.