PLAYING WITH TRANSPARENCY

 

On Thursday the class for my Torquay students focused on incorporating transparent or translucent material in their ikebana.

Róża had brought a huge lacy tree philodendron, Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum, leaf. I encouraged her to manipulate it to alter its appearance. She carefully cut the lamina of the leaf on one side, and part of the second, leaving only the larger veins. The result was a striking sculptural form.

 

I suggested that it needed a focal colour contrast. Her fellow student, Marta, gave her a sheet of orange cellophane that was formed into an irregular ball-shape.

Marta's ikebana used two stems of ginger to make a vertical ikebana. A length of fine green mesh linked the stems and a small succulent created a focal point.

Coralie created a structure with black plastic mesh supported in two glass box-shaped vessels. Three palm leaves provided a contrast, "bringing the sculpture to life". 

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At the beginning of the week I attended the first face-to-face meeting of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Victorian Branch, since April. The theme of the meeting was to make an ikebana in a clear glass vessel using leaf material only. This excluded leaves on a branch. I was interested in the presenter, Angeline Lo's, suggestion of finding new fixing techniques. In this situation the fixing needs to be hidden or to become part of the ikebana itself.

 

I used two vessels with flat surfaces. About two weeks earlier I had cut some stems of Umbrella grass, Cyperus alternifolius,  the "leaf-head" on some of which, had turned an attractive shade of yellow. I have placed one of these with a fresh, green leaf-head in the circular vase at the right rear. It was cut so that it could sit flat against the surface. Another I cut in half and then cut the ends so that they lined up with the edges of the rectangular vase. In each case the leaf is supported by its central stem that is wedged between the front and back surfaces of the vases. I added the variegated Aspidistra leaf to create sense of movement. However, on later reflection, I think it is too visually heavy and is not well integrated.

Click on this link to other images of the Sogetsu Branch  workshop.

Greetings from Christopher

28th November 2021