Hamadryad -- Forest

Object Details

• Artist

  Okura Jiro (Japan, 1942-2014)

• Description

  Sculpture consists of six free-standing vertical units (or trees), three of which are painted black and three red. Each unit contains two identical planks that are bolted back to back to a black metal pole/stand for support. The planks are constructed from overlapping, horizontal strips of camphor wood glued and screwed together, with a metal rod screwed to the backside for further stability. The roughly chiseled, exposed wood surface along the upper edge of each strip creates a dramatic striped effect juxtaposed against the red or black painted surface of the strip face. When bolted together, the wider, bottom end of each plan splays out slightly adding to the three-dimensionality to the unit.

• Label

  Okura's work is inspired by his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation. Instead of meditation, however, he uses the repeated motion of cutting wood in parallel motions, which he regards as a kind of kinesthetic or bodily chanting. He works not to achieve a preconceived product, but rather for the spiritual experience in the process of working.

  This work is one of his series titled "Hamadryad," or "tree spirit," from a Greek word describing a wood nymph who lives within the trees until they die. Okura's deep respect for wood as a material from an ancient, once living tree inspires his work.

  The "forest" consists of six identical standing units: three red and three black. They are free-standing, and are intended to be freely and variably arranged in space. According to Okura's concepts, the arrangement of these units generates distinct physical spaces in a manner similar to a folding screen. He considers the spaces as the true focus of his art.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Hamadryad - Meditation as Sculpture (April 14 to September 15, 2002)

  Contemporary Sculpture by Jiro Okura (January 20 to March 4, 2000)

  Currents 78: Jiro Okura (July 21 to September 6, 1999)

  Jiro Okura (March 29 to May 31, 1996)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of the artist

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1990s

• Name

  Okura, Jiro

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, abstract, Contemporary Art, Heisei era (1989 - 2019), Art, Wood, Japanese Art

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Sculpture