Yuichi Hirako presents a large-scale set up at The Modern Institute in Glasgow, comprising acrylic work and wood sculptures throughout Aird’s Lane and the Bricks Area, asking for a reconsideration of our relationship to nature and providing a delicate allegory for present world environmental points, expressed in his joyful aesthetic language. A questioning of our consciousness of the greenery round us shaped the impetus for the brand new works: the shapes of leaves on houseplants; the plantings, association of flower beds and topiary in native parks; the engaging however unsettlingly wild plenty of tree species that represent a forest. Hirako asks us to take a look at conditions the place nature enters our world, disguised and interspersed with human creations and applied sciences.
Hirako’s vivid figurative model is wealthy in metaphor and his set up includes a various neighborhood of issues – books, cats, vases, fruit – in addition to his ‘tree man’. The bigger work are expansive, providing filmic vistas and inside scenes incorporating a number of objects, whereas different smaller compositions depict singular gadgets or animals – a snake, an amplifier, a pair of footwear. Hung collectively in a exact geometric association the impact is maximalist, with man and nature sitting in shut proximity. The sculptural installations mimic this environment, making a mise en scène for his varied ‘tree males’. A self-portrait of kinds, this magical determine has a human physique and a fir or pine tree head replete with antlers. It developed partially from Hirako’s private experiences and analysis into Shinto thought and the Japanese folklore custom of mountain worship. He additionally attracts inspiration from associated traditions and practices which have lengthy existed in different international locations and areas.
For Hirako, the ‘tree-man’ is contemplative, a form of rückenfigur, with which the viewer can establish – imagining themselves in the identical state of affairs. His bronze work Yggdrasill / Books, 2023, put in within the inexperienced area on the entrance of the gallery serves as introduction to this character and the themes at play within the present – in essence, the questioning of an anthropocentric view of the world. The phrase Yggdrasill refers back to the sacred tree which varieties the central level of the cosmos outlined in Norse mythology, it’s the place from which all life stems. This pertains to Hirako’s emphasis on coexistence with nature, fairly than its domination, and his constant philosophical centring of it in his work.
All imagery courtesy the artist and The Trendy Institute
