Wave Hill introduced Perfection / Impermanence: Contemporary Ikebana to New York audiences by bringing six artists from Japan to the Bronx. Ikebana comes from a long tradition that celebrates life and respects plants as living, breathing things. The practice requires a disciplined training in which the artist strives to create perfection and impermanence in each installation or display. The origins of the word stem from three verbs: ikeru to place or arrange; ikiru – to live, to be alive, to arrive at one’s essence; ikasu – to put in the best light.

Progressive Japanese flower artists have developed Contemporary Ikebana, a form of arrangement that is released from the confines of the vase. It employs natural and inorganic materials, and encourages free expression and often takes the form of large-scale installations. Arrangement, relationship to a space, use of living plants, the artists’ own creative process and energy, and the concept of time or the transience of living matter are all components of Ikebana

Contemporary Ikebana has an affinity with Western installation art and sculpture using natural materials, like that of Andy Goldsworthy or David Nash, but subtle and important differences exist. One distinction is that in Ikebana the plants come first; very often in installation art, the space, audience or the concept takes precedence. The act of arrangement expands in the moment of its creation. Space takes on an importance as plant material is transferred from a natural setting to a cultural context. One of the challenges of Glyndor Gallery was the strong Western architecture of the space. The collection of these installations was an exciting and engaging use of the house and terrace.


Materials and Meaning, an essay by Janet Koplos, puts the work of Contemporary Ikebana aritsts in context with contemporary Japanese sculpture and the long tradition of Ikebana.

Janet Koplos Essay

Principal funding for the Visual Arts at Wave Hill is provided by the Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Charitable Trust. This exhibition is supported, in part, by The Asian Cultural Council. Thank you to the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center for hosting Chisen Furukawa.

This exhibition is part of The Buddhism Project, a collaboration of twenty New York City institutions that explore Buddhism’s relationship to the arts in contemporary American culture.