FEBRUARY 28, 2024 / KUSHAL JAIN
images courtesy of Yukihiro Akama

Artist Yukihiro Akama is set to unveil his largest exhibition to date, ‘Basho no Kankaku – A Sense of Place,’ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP). The display will feature 52 wooden houses, each crafted from a single piece of wood, ranging from a mere 4cm to a grand 105cm and accompanied by architectural drawings and mini prints.

Working from a furniture maker’s workshop in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire, England), Akama is deeply immersed in nature, a crucial influence on his artistic process. Each house is conceived from a single piece of wood, with the material itself guiding the design’s starting point through knots and grains. Traditional Japanese tools are employed to create a harmonious interplay of rough and smooth surfaces. The houses, taking between 3 hours and 3 days to complete, showcase delicate details, reflecting the fragile nature of man-made structures and the transient essence of human lives.

For this exhibition, commissioned by YSP, Akama introduces a new method of coloring the wood using an iron acetate solution. The solution interacts with the wood’s tannins, resulting in a stunning ebonized finish that enhances the visual appeal of each piece. The inspiration for these intricate creations draws from Japanese temples, shrines, and the Jomon-era ruins, manifesting shapes, textures, and surfaces from a bygone era 4,000 years ago. […]

Source: A Glimpse Inside the Whimsical Wooden Miniature Homes of Yukihiro Akama