Shiotsuki Juran / 塩月寿藍造

1948-2016

Combed weave flower basket 

1978

23 x 19 x 14 cm

9 x 7.5 x 5.5 in

A simple-seeming basket by an artist who excelled in complexity. Living National Treasure Katsushiro Soho constructs his baskets from such twisting, striated lines , which give the impression of flickering movement as one passes in front of the basket. The same technique allowed Juran to make the planar faces of the abstract forms he often pursued. The construction of such surfaces may appear straightforward, but in technical terms they are extremely difficult to compose into forms that retain structural integrity and at the same time clarity and elegance, as here.