Yō Akiyama: Oscillation: Vertical Garden

Yō Akiyama took inspiration for his sculpture from the red oak trees surrounding this clearing, noticing how “their interaction between a deep affinity for the earth and a desire to fight against the pull of gravity dictates their shape.” His sculpture, likewise, reaches for the sky but is born of the earth, and seems shaped according to its rhythms. It was made of stoneware (a high‐fire, durable ceramic) in Akiyama's studio in Japan, brought to the Clark in pieces, and assembled on site. The surface is treated with iron powder, giving it a rusty yet lustrous finish. It looks something like an ancient spear point. Three fluid states of matter—clay, fire, and water—have been combined into something solid and eternal.

Yō Akiyama's major concerns revolve around the physical properties of clay as a material. Through the skilled manipulation of this ancient medium, he explores the tension between surface and form, the ordered and the organic. This direct relationship with his material, as well as his commitment to experimentation and reinvention, has made Akiyama one of Japan's most important contemporary sculptors. He recently retired as the chairman of the ceramics department at Kyoto City University of Arts.