Читать книгу Japanese Ikebana for Every Season - Yuji Ueno - Страница 6

the new ikebana

RIE IMAI

Raised and educated in Tokyo, Japan, I received an interior coordinator’s license and then moved to the United States. I lived in New York and San Francisco where I studied horticulture, including Western flower arrangement styles and Japanese ikebana. During my studies, I became aware that there was a new wave of expression developing in all the floral arts. I was also able to view the art of Japanese ikebana impartially, from outside the formality and lifetime commitment it requires.

After returning to Tokyo, ten years later, I continued to research horticulture design and became interested in current flower arranging trends. This led me to encounter an ikebana arrangement by Yuji Ueno. Seeing his work for the first time, I realized that contemporary Japanese ikebana was indeed moving in new directions. I was very excited and heartened to see this development.

Yuji Ueno’s arrangements are a new kind of ikebana to me. Although his work is simple, it embodies a special type of beauty. It also precisely expresses the arranger’s artistic intention without using complicated techniques. Yuji Ueno is a true seeker of creative expression in floral art. He has raised the caliber of Japanese flower arranging, taking it to a new level, one not bound by convention. He is one of the top practitioners of new, innovative trends and, fortunately, is happy for people to adopt his ideas and techniques.

Yuji Ueno’s arrangements.

Yuji Ueno and I share the same view about the need to introduce this current trend of pushing Japanese ikebana in new directions. It is my great honor to introduce to readers, along with Yuji Ueno, contemporary Japanese flower arrangements that go beyond the traditional concept of ikebana.

The main purpose of this book is to introduce the beauty of flower arranging with a Japanese sensibility to a wider audience and to encourage readers to create such arrangements by themselves. But we would like also to make the basic mastery of Japanese-style flower arrangements accessible to anyone who is interested in this wonderful art.

The basis of arranging ikebana originally evolved from observing nature, and this practice is one of the main themes of this book. I believe that dialogue with the natural environment is the starting point of a Japanese flower arrangement. True beauty resides in nature and we need to capture it for ourselves.

All the arrangements shown here have been made with floral materials and containers that are widely available anywhere in the world. We selected flowers that can be purchased in most flower shops. We used ordinary containers that can be found in daily life and were not specifically made for ikebana. Basic techniques are used over and over again to help readers develop familiarity.

In the book, we go directly to the essence of beauty as found in ikebana. I attempt to explain the aspects of universal beauty that are inherent in ikebana. I not only discuss the shape, design and techniques of an arrangement but also introduce methods of coordination and ideas about adding and subtracting materials and colors. In each arrangement in the pages that follow, I will introduce what constitutes a sense of beauty in Japan, which is the key to a successful arrangement.

A unique approach taken in this book is the emphasis on the importance of the relationship between every aspect of a Japanese-style flower arrangement. In Japan, arranging flowers means producing an artwork by paying attention to the total contribution and coordination of various elements, such as the floral material, container, season, water, setting, space, light and purpose. Ikebana is an integrated art of space and time, where all the elements conjoin at one point. My aim is to present this kind of awareness to the reader.

In Japan, a European-based lifestyle has penetrated all aspects of urban society and many people have become “Westernized”. There are now many houses that lack the traditional tatami mat room and the tokonoma alcove for displaying seasonal art objects. At the same time, Western society is beginning to understand Eastern culture and be influenced by it. “East meets West” prevails in many ways in modern Japanese society and we increasingly see a fusion of the two spheres.

Japanese-style arrangements can also be appreciated during Western festivities and on special occasions. Certain celebrations, such as Easter or Thanksgiving, are not widely observed in Japan, but even so flower arrangements with a Japanese touch may provide a different but memorable touch to your special occasion.

Although ikebana has traditionally been placed in a special alcove in a Japanese-style room, my intention is for the arrangements to decorate a contemporary living space. All of the arrangements in this book are therefore designed to suit a Western environment. Simple ikebana set in any room in the home can add a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment to your life.

A certain level of technique is required to make an arrangement that fully realizes your creative intention. However, the real goal of an arrangement is to express your creativity, not to show off techniques. In this book, all the important and essential techniques used in the arrangements are covered in a separate section. My explanation for each work focuses more on the concept and key factors for the success of the arrangement.

Additional photographs are included to illustrate details of the techniques and arranging tips. I encourage readers to try to apply such techniques in their own arrangements. Beyond just a mass of flowers in a vase, creative and pleasing ikebana can be accomplished with the simple techniques presented in this book. Although “practice makes perfect”, it can also lead to creative thinking and originality.

I like to keep my eyes and mind open to discovering beauty and spontaneity in any encounter I experience, whether it be with seasonal flowers, a peaceful sunset or a nice glass of wine. I urge you to keep your eyes and mind open to the message of the beauty and feeling within the Japanese-style arrangements presented here. Although this book may seem to be filled with rules, they are really only guidelines born of my interaction with the art of Japanese ikebana. Sometimes breaking the rules can lead to new ideas that will set you on an exciting journey of your own.

I do hope that this book encourages you, through the floral arrangements skillfully created by Yuji Ueno, to look closely at flowers, to communicate with flowers, to even sometimes to struggle with flowers, and to discover your own style of arranging, one that matches your lifestyle. Let this book accompany you in finding your own personal sense of beauty and potential through interaction with nature and your own self-expression through flower arranging.