Nothing says “minimalist” quite like a handful of naked stalks set in a wooden bowl. But Ikebana, a 500-year-old style of Japanese plant and flower arranging, never results from any careless gesture. To assume so would only echo the boast of the ignorant gallery guest — the one who encounters a spare, abstract painting and foolishly claims: “I could do that!”
Instead, Ikebana — translated literally, it means “giving life to flowers” — requires a bounty of patience and discrimination. The ancient art is not about the bursting bouquet, the tide of floral profusion only appreciated at its showy peak. Any portion of a plant can be used in an arrangement — stems, vines, leaves and twigs are considered as necessary, indeed more so, than the blossoms. And yet the look must be uncluttered, informed by visual balance and spiritual intention. Traditionally, one remains silent during composition. In Japan, the practice is subdivided into more than 1,000 schools.
That’s not to say that Ikebana can’t be learned and used in a decent amount of time: the sheer number of instructors in Asheville and Hendersonville attests to that. “I found it kind of surprising, when I came here, how many people were interested in Ikebana, and in Asian culture,” says Emiko Suzuki, who’s done Ikebana for 21 years and teaches four-hour, bimonthly classes in her home.
Suzuki arrived in the area from her native city of Nagoya as part of the Japan Foundation, an arts-and-language exchange program that placed her in WNC schools teaching students in grades K-12. She met her future husband, Manabu Suzuki, in Hendersonville. Although based here for two decades, “he was from a part of Japan that was very near to mine,” says Suzuki. She is now also a student herself, commuting to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee en route to a Master of Arts in Education degree.
Any art-school attendee will recognize the term “negative space” — the physical area surrounding a work’s central subject, and an idea often hung with a philosophical weight. Suzuki describes its importance in Ikebana. “In Western-style floral arrangements, you have to fill out your space. You don’t care about the leaves or stems. In Ikebana you really have to show the beauty of the stems or grasses, so you have to show the line.” By extension, all that is not the line enhances the stark design. “That’s very important, to create that negative space.”
Despite such notions, any morsel of fauna can be elevated to Ikebana. And native species and seasonal plants are particularly important. “We’ve even done arrangements with pokeweed,” says Suzuki, referring to a particularly lore-chocked mountain herb. Vases and containers, commonly made of wood, stone, pottery or even found objects, are integral to effect.
Suzuki emphasizes that the art is not static, but necessarily changes according to lifestyle and environment. “We have different plants [in America], different flowers, different-sized leaves, different-sized houses. To only use the Japanese way with no mixture of local culture doesn’t make sense. To me, Ikebana is very flexible. My headmaster always said: ‘Tradition does not just stay there — it is always moving.’”
Ikebana in the home — and beyond.
Another local instructor, Terri Todd, urges that idea into further corners, using her knowledge of the art to inform her style of décor. Todd, a committee chair with the Asheville chapter of Ikebana International, is an expert of the contemporary Ichiyo School, which emphasizes plant arrangements in interior design and outdoor landscaping.
“We built our home in a contemporary minimalist style using simple lines and open spaces, with many windows to allow the outside scenery of the mountains and trees to become part of our environment for all seasons,” she says.
“Organic materials like wood, concrete and metal offer clean backgrounds for art from local artists, as well as the ephemeral art of Ikebana,” Todd goes on. “Bringing a few materials from outside to the inside in an Ikebana design gives us a personal connection with the natural world.”
At the same time, Ikebana is enjoying a social-growth spurt, inching out of the hobby realm into wedding themes and public ceremony. Choy Falvey, whose name adorns Choy’s Flowers and Ikebana in Hendersonville, runs a full-service floral business that comprises both traditional-Western arrangements and Eastern concepts. “In the last seven years, people are asking for [Asian design] so much more,” she says. The store’s motif is what she calls “high style” — a blend of both cultures, with rocks, sticks and moss enhancing exotic blooms.
“It creates a very distinctive line. Even brides are asking for it. The ones who want something different.”
Ikebana Clubs in Western North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Chapter of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month at St. John in the Wilderness Parish House, Route 25 & Rutledge Drive, Flat Rock. Call 828-696-4103 or visit www.blueridgeikebana.com for more information.
The Ikebana International Ashville Chapter (#74) meets monthly on the 4th Tuesday from February through October. Meetings are usually in the auditorium of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville. Call 828-298-7928 or visit www.ikebanaasheville.org for more information.