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A moment before Sakai's opening reception at Look gallery. 

The stone sculpture in the foreground symbolizes fertility. It's the belly of a pregnant woman. The size of that belly is how I feel about what it was like to be pregnant with a show.  I am not the artist but my heart was burning on occasion and I even felt the labor pains.  Well, the art pieces have been delivered and they look healthy.  The large wall piece in the background is the male/female piece Sakai was working on till the night before the show and he wasn't sure if he could finish it in time.  I was thrilled to see it up on the gallery wall.  "That piece is exactly like music,"  a jazz drummer and composer friend, Peter Erskine commented. I loved the association.  I could see the movements in the piece.  

This is the first large scale retrospective show Sakai has had in Los Angeles in nearly two decades and by far, the most multi-dimensional and dynamic body of work he has put together.  With the addition of paintings, which he calls drawings, I can see his daily journals as a sculptor and how that inspires his sculptures.  Sometimes, it is hard to get a proper perspective about what an artist is doing in the studio when you live with one so closely.  You see and hear the physical activities in the studio but it is so easy to take everything for granted.  Tonight, I finally have the chance to see each piece standing on its own. It's a a solid show and we are off to a good start.