Oddments

Eight months ago, I was in the garden at the art school waiting for the induction: a new environment, new people, my first studio. Then, as I moved into the empty studio, I wondered what I would be making in this space.

Now, eight months on, I have just installed my work, "Oddments," for the degree show.

Over the last eight months, meeting people from various walks of life at the school has made me reflect on who I am and why I study art. During the making process, I needed to really pay attention and listen to what my inner self was feeling and telling me. Sometimes unassuming things trigger my old memories or events I have forgotten for ages, and they suddenly come together to tell me a story.

“Oddments” grew from this journey. For eight months, I experimented with unfamiliar materials, but I was most drawn to the wood offcuts and shavings around the school, which I took back to my studio. Since my space was near the wood workshop, I often heard wood being cut and sometimes smelt the sawdust, and these sounds and smells conjured memories of my grandfather’s Japanese furniture wood workshop, where I played with offcuts as a child.

The odd shapes and rough surfaces of offcuts intrigue me. I wonder whether chance or intention causes these cuts, and how such separations can lead to different fates for each piece. Their imperfections resemble the character and uniqueness of humans. This thought inspired me to begin arranging the offcuts as if they were gathering and having conversations. That’s how this work began.

Wood offcuts bring back memories of my childhood in Japan, especially practising calligraphy after school. Marks became words, which then gained meaning. But when texts are torn or removed from context, their meaning blurs or is lost. Lines and marks no longer carry the meaning they once had.

Some Japanese cultural influences remain with me, but I wonder if what I remember has become blurred since I’ve been away. The culture may have changed over the years, and I am unsure if I still fit in.

Oddments could be translated as 半端物 (hanpa-mono) in Japanese, meaning leftovers, imperfect things, or those that cannot form a perfect whole. By arranging offcuts from various walks of life, I have tried to blur the boundaries between perfection and imperfection and find new belonging, even briefly.

You can see the work “Oddment” here. Thank you for reading!