Ensō
(Ensō 円相)
2014
Medium
bamboo, rattan, lacquer
Measurements
14.5 × 37.0 × 62.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Baillieu Myer AC and Sarah Myer through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2017
© Shouchiku Tanabe
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Tanabe Shōchiku was a graduate from the Sculpture Department of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and is a fifth-generation bamboo artist of the Tanabe family, founded by Tanabe Shinjō (1821–94). This beautifully balanced contemporary work references the traditional Zen symbol of a circle, which represents enlightenment, strength, elegance and the universe. In meditative terms the ensō represents an experience of the ‘absolute void’ and a moment when the mind is free to let the body and spirit spontaneously create without boundaries.