Camphorwood H620×W400×D410mm This work is made from camphorwood produced in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture. This work is carved out of a single tree without joining the wood together. Many large wood carvings and furniture pieces are formed by dividing the elements that make up the form and joining them together. This is because the "joining method" is widely used as a time- and material-efficient means of making wood carvings and furniture. In contrast, the practice of carving out a single tree to form a form can be seen in the ancient Japanese "one-wooden Buddhist statue," the "stools" of West African tribes, and the "totem poles" of North American Indians. Since these ancient peoples regarded trees as precious and sacred, they probably believed that objects carved directly from the trees contained spiritual power. Creation in this mentality is an act akin to "prayer. I was inspired to create this work by these objects, which were created in a primordial state where the very act of creating a Buddha statue, a stool, or a totem pole is a "purpose," a "prayer," and a "life. Humanity has gained wisdom and filled the world with "means" that continue to drive social structures in pursuit of "efficiency. In a place where "means" have drowned us and "purpose" and "prayer" have become far away, I believe that the time will come in the not-too-distant future when we will have to reexamine "what we wish for. I created this work with the hope that at that time, works shaped by the production methods practiced by ancient humans will serve as an opportunity to remind us of "what we wish for.
