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| Contemplative Journey |
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| Contemplative Journey |
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| Contemplative Journey |
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“Contemplative
Journey” Yellow Granite 1997 Nanao Riverside, Japan Four carved Granite Lanterns
Client: City of Nanao
“In
the summer of 1997 I left my home in the mountains of Scotland to travel to Japan . . . On any journey one must face changes:
changes in location, time, culture and understanding. For this reason journeys have become symbols of learning,
of enlightenment.
After some hot days in the hard, bright streets
of Tokyo, it was a pleasure to drive through mountains again to Nanao with its welcoming human-scale streets and friendly
people . . .
When I began to design my own piece for Nanao, I thought about sculpture’s role in the town. I
wanted my piece to integrate into the streets, to have a useful function in the town and to relate formally and meaningfully
to its setting, as well as expressing emotions and intellectual ideas.
The four sections of “Contemplative
Journey” will be placed under four willow trees along the river . . . The sculpture’s gentle sweeping curves
of stone and light, representing a journey through mountains, will create a visual rhythm along the street. This
sense of movement will be further reinforced by the lights shining up into the restless branches of the willows and by the
perpetual flow past of the river. In this way the sculpture touches on themes of permanence and the passing of
time, as well as enlightenment gained through journeying.”
Extract from the artist’s statement included
in the 1997 Nanao International Artists’ Camp publication |
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