• Rough sawn timber, industrial nails and bolts    jr 2007
•  3.5 x 3.5m

Silver Birch 白樺 aims to evoke the bold language of modern street signage whilst engaging  with ideas of decoding  and the raw markings of primitive culture.  Japanese characters (Kanji) made from freshly sawn birchwood, old nails and industrial screws form the word, ‘Silver Birch’.  The characters are between 1 and 2 metres in height and width.

A western perception of traditional Japanese culture is one which captures the essence; the aura; the ki of nature and yet with the advent of rapid industrialisation and consumer culture it is now much more complex.  As with many cultures nature can be given sentimental, romantic and nostalgic interpretations whilst being compartmentalised and used as commodity. It is the crudeness, brutality and raw material form of Silver Birch 白樺 which aims to question the complex and changing cultural constructs of nature.

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