H 51.0 cm

椋材, 寄木造り

木彫 吉田安成

 (御神木の供養として, 個人蔵 , 2021) 

Aphananthe oriental eli tree sculpture in yosegi-zukuri style

Carved by YOSHIDA Yasumasa

 (Consecration of a salvaged branch by sculpting a Buddha statue, in private possession, 2021)

One day, a man suddenly visited our studio in summer in 2017. He said " I would like you to sculpt a buddhist statue out of a certain tree".

 

"That is a divine tree in our shrine, but that has been broken by typhoon. I want to make a memorial service, because for hundreds of years, that tree has given us a lots. For example  fruits, making shadow in hot summer day, and so on..."

 

At a later date, we went to his home to check the tree.  Then we cut out a section suitable for carving.

Two years later, we started production. The client had a dream that he built a meditation hall for local children. At first, he needed to create a symbolic statue. We heard that it was his ZEN mentor's teaching.

 

Yasumasa, a busshi (sculptor of Buddhist Statues) prepared a blueprint of a Manjusri Bodhisattva for ZEN room. 

Yasumasa had hard time cutting and carving the lumber. It was very hard and  low cleavability. 

Over the course of 4 years, the busshi revealed a Manjusri Bodhisattva from a divine tree.

The client wrote his wish and will on Japanese paper and contained it inside the statue.

May his wish come true. And may the wisdom of Manjushri appear to all.

Thank you for your watching !!