Japanese design and architecture
This has been a source I continually draw on as inspiration since I began my contemporary jewellery journey almost 9 years ago. It probably also stems back even further with a few trips to Japan in my formative years, studying the language as a high school student and spending a year working there so I could fulfill my dream of snowboarding the land’s perfect powder. I remember travelling on a bus in the northern island of Hokkaido during winter and looking out the window after rounding a corner to reveal a scene that literally steals the breath from your chest even after 9 months of living there. High mountain ranges, a snow covered valley and feeling something deep in my thoracic cavity that made me think to myself that this is definitely one of my soul places.
The sensibility of how space is used is obviously one of Japanese design and architectures cornerstones, particularly creating atmosphere within a space. This may be traced back to the origins of Shinto.
Original sites of worship were not great monuments or grand architecture dedicated to a religious figure, but neutral features in the wild.
A mountain or a stream would be considered the home of a deity and a ritual site would be created nearby for observances. This sacred enclosure would be minimally denoted by some poles in a clearing or a rope stretched between two points.
Furthermore, in an extreme example, claims Arata Isozaki, “invisible kehai- or atmospheric indication of sacredness that the lay of the land itself might express- was deemed sufficient…”
-Blaine Brownell [Matter in a Floating World].
Nothing fancy or closed in only for selected worshipers, but a place for everyone. I like this.
Spending time in nature gives me a similar feeling to this religious practice. Photographing in nature makes me subconsciously aware of possible ‘deity sites’, and when I review the images later, I am blown away that they really do exist all around us.
It may seem unconventional, but for me this kind of research has informed my initial material sketches for this project.
I am drawn to the idea of linking held open space and vast containment. It is not the kind of containment where 4 walls can close in on you or even conceal something of value. It is both something a l m o s t disguised but actually in plain view.