LEON WADDI BATTI
The project I have been working on is the creation of morimono art. Morimono means piling up objects. This was created in Japan and is typically used to decorate but is also typically used in art. It is derived from Ikebana which is another form of art created in Japan that means living flower. I decided to do morimono because I want to show that something beautiful can be created with only some branches and fabric. In this project, some of my mediums include Ikebana, arrangement, and photography which are the foundation of our project that help build it and make it great. When creating this art, I use materials such as wood, branches, fabric, as well as artificial objects such as flowers which all contribute to our creation of morimono art. We use these mediums to help make the morimono more beautiful however we never like to use all of what we have because, in morimono, it’s important to remember that less can mean more and the morimono can be beautiful with only a few objects.
When I began studying art I did not understand that art was not just painting, drawing, or sculpting but instead it was many different forms in ikebana, morimono, or other types of art. When I saw this I was much more interested and began seeing the beauty of art. This led me to enjoy practicing morimono. I also learned the important parts of morimono. For example, at first, I thought that I could make morimono more beautiful with more objects to make it look nicer, but I was later taught that morimono can’t just be objects everywhere. This is because it would make someone looking at the morimono confused about what to see. I learned that it is better to think that less is more when creating a morimono because it makes the morimono look nicer and more appealing instead of many objects scattered around.
During the project, I studied many arts and artists to help me learn. The school I studied was the Ohara Ikebana School and the two other art movements I studied were Sagagoryu Ikebana and Sogetsu Ikebana. The Ohara Ikebana School specializes in teaching students the art of morimono and inspired me to learn more about morimono (its history, meaning, etc). This helped my art by helping me understand morimono in depth which made my art better and nicer looking.
The first ikebana form we studied was Sagagoryu Ikebana that dates back to its founder, Emperor Saga who ruled Japan from 809 to 823. Sagagoryu Ikebana is based on 10 styles. The first is seika which is the more classic version of the art and is used to honor guests or for ceremonies. The second and third are heika and moribana are more creative and freely made and are based on landscapes. They are used mainly for flower arrangements and similar forms of decorations. The fourth form is shogonka which is the more formal style of the art and is typically used for ceremonial and formal occasions. The last and newest form is shinshoka which is very similar to the basics of Sagagoryu however, it tries to use as few materials as possible to create its art. Sagagoryu ikebana has inspired me to learn about the different forms of Japanese flower arranging and use them in my art to make it more formal, unique, and beautiful for people to look at. The second art we studied was Sogetsu ikebana. Sogetsu ikebana is a newer form of ikebana and was founded in 1927 by Sofu Teshigara who wanted to make ikebana more of a creative art. Sogetsu ikebana is created with any material and is used for any situation however mainly for decorating a home. The Sogetsu style has inspired me to be more creative in my work which allows me to make the art I create more simple and also be different and unique when people see it.
During this project, I faced many challenges as well as had success in the project. When creating the morimono arrangements I was challenged with finding a way to make the piece as beautiful as I could while still using fewer materials. This was challenging, however, it helped me become more creative with my work and after practicing, figure out how to make art with only three or four objects. Another challenge I faced was trying to figure out what people would enjoy seeing when they saw the arrangement. This was a challenge because small mistakes could lead to the art becoming unappealing. However, this led to success because after making multiple seasonal arrangements, I began understanding what people would enjoy more and enjoy less. These challenges were difficult but led me to successes that made my morimono nicer. Creating sculptures using driftwood was also challenging, as it was difficult to hold the pieces and glue them simultaneously and create a piece that could stand on its own.
After working on this project, I want the viewers of my art to experience joy and see the beauty of ikebana when looking at my arrangements. I want this to happen because I hope that people will see the morimono and begin to learn about the art so they can practice it. This will help them learn more about the different subjects of art as well as teach them how to make something appealing and nice to look at from just some flowers and branches.