The yin and yang of bamboo meet in Kizuna at the Denver Botanic Gardens

By Susan Froyd Fri., May 4 2012 at 7:52 AM

Categories: Art, Arts and Culture

When Kizuna: West Meets East, a site-specific installation of monumental works in bamboo, opens tomorrow at the Denver Botanic Gardens, it will only be the next step in a process that began in earnest in early April, when the artists arrived at the DBG not just to install, but in some cases to actually create the sculptures on site.

All photos courtesy of the Denver Botanic Gardens.

But because of the fragile, organic nature of the works -- some twisted from green bamboo by Japanese artist Tetsunori Kawana and others built from dried bamboo by American sculptor Stephen Talasnik -- the pieces, like all plant materials, are now subject to the elements in their outdoor gallery.

Together and apart, the works comprise a kind of yin and yang -- giving curves among flower beds and grasses versus more angular constructions planted in black water. "The two artists use very different methodologies, and we were playing with that also," explains DBG exhibitions director Lisa Eldred. "Both artists and teams made site visits multiple times to understand our space, but they work in different ways."

Scott Dressel-Martin.

"Kawana creates sketches and maquettes in advance, so the current installation marginally mirrors what he planned," she says.

Scott Dressel-Martin

"Telasnik had begun a number of months ago, working in his studio in Brooklyn. Then he shipped and brought out the nucleus of his exhibition to be installed in the Monet pool."