A nature-inspired exhibition takes root at California's Salmon Creek Farm

New works by Dan John Anderson, Kazunori Hamana, Yu Kobayashi, and Ido Yoshimoto are part of 'Jinen', an exhibition now on display at Salmon Creek Farm, Fritz Haeg’s cultural commune and creative hub in California’s redwood forest after their debut in April at A-Z West in Joshua Tree. Titled ‘Jinen’, after the Japanese word for ‘living as part of nature’, the show was created in partnership with Tokyo’s Curator’s Cube gallery. 

All four artists taking part in the project live in stunning, untouched locations and find much of their inspiration (and sometimes materials) in the natural landscapes around their studios. The California-based Dan John Anderson and Ido Yoshimoto work respectively from Yucca Valley, in the dramatic Mojave Desert, and Inverness, next to the lush forests and sea cliffs of the Point Reyes Peninsula. Kazunori Hamana and Yu Kobayashi, meanwhile, are both based on Japan’s rural Pacific Coast.

'Jinen' at Salmon Creek Farm

The idea for the exhibition emerged organically between the artists, through their shared association with the gallery, and aims to support Kobayashi’s US debut. Her colourful abstract paintings set the tone for the exhibition, with Anderson, Yoshimoto and Hamana making work that responds to, and complements, her pieces.

Kobayashi, who lives and works in a self-built studio made from driftwood and recycled material near the seaside town of Shizuoka, is a ceramic artist by training but also a sculptor and painter. Her work, inspired by the pine forests and stunning views on Mount Fuji found near her home, is a major influence on the other three artists.

Anderson presents 13 works in native West Coast woods, with the pieces’ totem-like architectural forms and elements in blackened wood, bronze, aluminium and stained glass punctuating the natural surroundings.

Although now based near Joshua Tree, Anderson grew up immersed in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, and his work is inspired by a deep reverence for wood, and rooted in collaborative ethos.

Highly personal and experimental, Yoshimoto’s six abstract sculptures are made from California redwood salvaged from near his home in Inverness. His appreciation and thorough understanding for the trees stems from his 20 year-long career as an arborist. Working with large chunks of raw material, Yoshimoto explores form, slowly peeling back layers to create both functional and sculptural pieces.

Finally, Hamana’s signature painted ceramic pots, imbued with the beauty of imperfection and the ephemeral, riff on both traditional and abstracted forms, inspired by his daily life as an organic rice farmer, fisherman and artist. The majority of his creative work is done by making use of materials available in his living environment, a rural fishing village in Japan’s Chiba prefecture.

'Jinen' is on show at Salmon Creek Farm in Albion, California from 3-5 May 2024

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