Wabi Sabi Ikebana

Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic which features impermanence and imperfection. A western interpretation could be rustic elegance. Since wabi-sabi is much more than an aesthetic, it is mysterious and difficult to define. According to Leonard Koren, author of Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, “wabi-sabi can in its fullest expression be a way of life.” (Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley).

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging, which westerners might interpret as understated elegance. I find many ikebana arrangements stark and simple, yet rich with texture, elegant and beautiful. Presented more for contemplation than filling a room with scent and color, an arrangement will  often invoke a somber mood with a touch of reverence.
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​​As an artist, I find wabi-sabi presents a vehicle for staying in the moment, with a willing release of perfection and complete acceptance of the result.
All of the work in this series comes from the first version of Wabi-Sabi Ikebana, shown in the left image above. The image on the right is the result of combining and recombining the first image onto itself and changing how the layers work together. 

Artwork can be revisited long after completion, which is what happened in this series. The result of asking "what if?" is over 200 abstract digital artworks that evolve both independently and in unison.
A larger selection of the series and a description of the evolution can be found in the portfolio book The Wabi-Sabi Ikebana Series: A Study of Impermanence available on Blurb.com.