The Jataka collection

Canoe Prow

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

EntryFront IntEntry JI-ScreenVanity jataka house post Jataka magic potion bottle earings 2 hornbill figure earings 3 STAIR Wetbar JI-Staircase

Rice paper Shoji screens  with a mirror frame spanning the two.

Rice paper Shoji screens with a mirror frame spanning the two.

Within the design of an ancient canoe prow there lies the essential thought of the people for whom it was created.  The curves and frills of the surfing waves inspired those artists from Oceania of South East Asia. From the same region the stopper for a magic potion bottle portrays an entire aesthetic of communion with a spirit world.  Earrings of worked gold from the island tribes portray shapes that have evolved beyond the reach of Euclidean geometry and European obsession with Realism. The art of the ancestors of the Asian southern sea are freed of such restrictions, and exude the playful humor of a life in a long house village in the jungled islands.  The freedom in art of this region, left me with a deep sense of inspiration.  I made doors and screens and furniture with this mood which I call the Jataka collection, a word borrowed from the sanskrit, meaning tales of past lives. I used papyrus, and burnished pine with wax finish, which kept the island feel, and yet fitted perfectly with modern style. All the woodwork in this collection is brushed and burnished with a raised grain texture and patinated finish. There are more pieces to come.

 

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