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Five-Linked Flower Vase

Wood & Bamboo
Craft Artist
Yoshitake Kihira
ORIGIN
Aichi Prefecture
SIZE
W150 × H90 × D35mm
MATERIAL
Zelkova

A space of presence

Five cylindrical vessels stand gently alongside one another in Five-Linked Flower Vase. Their arrangement traces a subtle curve, creating a pleasing rhythm and lending the piece a poised presence even before flowers are placed within it.

Yoshitake Kihira creates each work by carving and shaping blocks of wood with chisels, planes, and files, carefully refining every form by hand. The soft contours that emerge from this process possess a quiet elegance, while retaining a warmth that is difficult to achieve through machine production. Running a hand over the surface of the zelkova wood reveals the natural texture of the material, along with its subtle fragrance. With the addition of a single flower, the vessel, the flower, and the surrounding space come together to form a single scene. The open space that emerges around them brings a sense of stillness to everyday life.

Within the interplay of light and shadow, the natural material reveals a rich range of expressions. The gentle tension held within the work may well stem from Yoshitake’s own awareness of the distance he maintains between himself and the vase as he creates it. Even after the piece passes into the hands of its user, it continues to preserve a subtle tension and a measured sense of space, while affection for it gradually deepens through the rhythms of daily life.

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