Working in the Japanese room at Sogetsu Headquarters

The second day at HQ was held in the Japanese room, a real treat to work alongside a stunning installation.

Fukushima sensei demonstrated 4 arrangements ending with one in clear glass containers which was the theme for our work.

Arranging in glass containers have added challenges because one is not to use a kenzan to support the material. To overcome this, you must experiment – test tension, buoyancy, etc. to make the work interesting. I had last choice of containers, a tall square vessel, so I selected Horsetail Horsetail (Equisetum), and Gomphocarpus physocarpus (common name Ballon plant, Bishop’s Balls, Hairy Balls – whatever you like to call it is classified as a weed in NSW Australia).

I created a crossing grid structure with the Horsetail to hold the Hairy balls under the water. The challenge was to keep the balls submerged so I spilt them open to fill with water then wedged into a smaller section so they wouldn’t float. Fukushima sensei remarked the work reminded her of Mondrian paintings or New York skyscrapers.