SIMPLIFIED IKEBANA

In a recent class, I had set my Melbourne students the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of making a "Simplified Ikebana". In this exercise students are encouraged to study the materials carefully and then remove all elements that are extraneous to their design. The main challenge is to not remove so much that the original material becomes unrecognisable. Below are before and after photographs of the exercise I took in 2015, when I had the presence of mind to take them.

The branch material was the main stem of a dead Ivy, Hedera, that had been climbing a tree. To make the comparison easier the photo on the left has been rotated, because it was taken with the branch lying on its side on a table.

The photos from the classroom are only of the finished ikebana.

Eugenia used a small branch of Calistemon without any flowers and most of the leaves removed. The unusual vase really suited the angular lines in the branches, which have been flattened in the photograph unfortunately.

In a second example she again showed the angular lines in a branch of mostly defoliated Banksia, which was set in a green bottle-shaped vessel.

Marcia used a stem of prunus and a single Camellia bud. All the side branches and most of the leaves were removed.

In a second example, the main stem was reduced to a single angular line beside which stood a single line of ... blossom

Jacqueline had brought a stem of Cymbidium orchids. Only a single flower was used. The dried branch that was chosen to be included had to be inverted to fit into the narrow opening of the vase.

Marisha had brought a footed vase and some fairly bushy blossoming branches. Because of the visual strength of the black vase less material was removed from the branches to maintain a good balance.

Three weeks ago I attended a workshop offered by the Melbourne Chapter of the Ikenobo School to all members of Ikebana International Melbourne. The workshop was led by the visiting master Professor Kurata.

The first theme was to make a freestyle ikebana using Australian native flowers. I am fortunate to have been able to use materials from my own garden. Given that it is early spring there was plenty of wattle. 

The main material is Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha, from which I had removed about 90% of the leaves. On the left side is a branch of the Slender Velvet Bush Lasiopetalum baueri, and somewhat hidden on the right side is Coastal Beard-Heath Leucopogon parviflorus. The latter has tiny white flowers that are not visible in this photo. This is the corrected version of my ikebana and I was really interested in Professor Kurata's observation that, initially, the two main materials were too even in their volume. However, I was not happy with my arrangement because I actually wanted the Slender Velvet bush branch to be the main subject.

When I came home I re-worked the ikebana into a slanting style and significantly reduced the volume of the wattle, changing the balance of the three elements of the ikebana. Professor Kurata's observation, of course, was correct and in this final version the different volumes of the three materials contribute to the dynamic balance of the ikebana. The vase is by the Japanese borne Victorian ceramic artist Terunobu Hirata.

The second exercise in the workshop was to make an ikebana using spring-flowering materials. 

Although all the materials I had used in the first ikebana fitted that description, I thought I should be using something different  for the next exercise. I particularly wanted to use the Dutch Iris Iris x hollandica that I had grown in a pot, as well as some of the red Japanese flowering quince Chaenomeles.

When I came to place the iris in this simple (not simplified) ikebana the flowers were far too large. The solution was to use the leaves only, which added a feeling of freshness. This style of arranging the materials all arising from a single line was my "nod in the direction" of Ikenobo traditional practice.

The domed ceramic vessel is by the Victorian ceramic artist Owen Rye.

Greetings from Christopher
17th September 2023