CONTRASTING AND COMPLEMENTING

Two weeks ago I posted an ikebana I had made for a 'lockdown-cancelled' workshop to be led by Emily Karanikolopoulos. Emily had set a combined exercise which was to make an ikebana which took into account both the shape of the vase and also the colour of the vase. Each of these requirements are separate exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. I am returning to that theme today. For my first attempt at the exercise, I decided to use some of the Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, that is abundant at this time of year. 

As you can see from this photo it has rather a lot of large leaves that I had to remove so that the bright yellow was the dominant colour. This was to take into account the colour of the vase,  which has a purple appearance.

The vase in question is glazed with alternating, fine red and blue lines which, at a distance, makes it look purple. It is also a rather thin walled vase... 

...so I made a crossbar with a forked branch called a kubarigi. My method of setting the cross bar is unconventional. Because I did not want to put any pressure on the walls of the vase, I have wired the branch onto a vertical fixture that is standing upright in a kenzan. I did this because it enabled me to elevate the materials above the rim of the vase with the intention of them reflecting one half of its almost parabolic profile.

This is the finished ikebana. I have added two stems of drying Papyrus sedge, Cyperus papyrus, for the depth of colour that they add to the bright yellow blossoms. The vase is by the Western Australian ceramic artist Pippin Drysdale.

Because the yellow mass did not seem to me to be sufficiently dense for the visual strength of the vase, I made a further attempt at the exercise.

This time I used the curving lines of the virtually leafless Strelitzia Juncea. I thought its strong lines would make a good contrast to the the bold rectangular geometry of the modern vase I chose.

 

The vase has a deep blue glaze and is perforated with two square holes that are glazed white. Over a couple of days I was keeping my eyes open for some orange flowers that I could mass as the contrasting colour opposite blue on the colour wheel. Then I had one of those 'A-ha' moments when I noticed the Tangelos on the kitchen bench; a great colour and shape contrast. I have added a small lemon at the back to lift the orange colour.

Click on this link to see photos of the Victorian Sogetsu Branch members' response to this exercise.

Greetings from Christopher
11th September 2021