Mineo Mizuno, Komoreb i–light of forest. Installation materials: tree stump and ceramic pieces. The Huntington Library. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, the artist Mineo Mizuno, and Gagosian Gallery.
Artist Mineo Mizuno’s temporary installation at The Huntington Library , Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California brings together past and present in refreshing, unexpected ways! In one work pictured here, entitled Komorebi –light of forest, origami-inspired dogwood blossoms (hundreds of individual ceramic pieces) “scattered” around a real tree stump sourced from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada engage in whimsical conversation with a nearby 17th-century French terracotta sculpture of a tree nymph (originally made for the Tuileries Gardens in Paris), as well as the decorative Rococo-style of the Huntington mansion’s interior. As the wall label reads, Mizuno’s “artwork connects the ceramic traditions and aesthetic possibilities of his native Japan with the remarkable landscapes of California, where he has lived for over fifty years”. Fascinatingly resonant with the space and surrounding sculptural figures (and history of Arabella Huntington’s taste for Chinese ceramics and mixing of artistic traditions), the entire installation opens up wonderful new perspectives and associations, bringing a bit of the renowned gardens indoors, and taking The Huntington into the 21st century.