無極

This project aims to create a wooden doll and its housing that is a reflection of ourselves. I was inspired by the buddhist oil lamp that I have on my altar at home.

I wanted to capture the main aspects of my innate personality, which I felt was unstable, and holding together. I have a volatile personality and I try my best to contain myself together. This can be seen through the erratic movements of the doll like a roly poly toy. The doll is also held together by the form with dowels, and can be easily taken apart if wanted to.

The housing component is made with sono wood which has an Asian origin. The gold lacquer decoration is a homage to the Japanese art of kintsugi, which highlights imperfections, which is what I would like to remind myself. The lamp itself is inspired by the altar lamp which I have at home, and the circular form is inspired by the Enso circle in Zen Buddhism.

The wooden doll is placed at a comfortable distance of 10cm away from the lamp and the doll is purposely tilted to the back, seemingly looking up upon the circle of the lamp. This is a reflection self-reflection of my identity of a Buddhist and what my religion means to me in times of weakness and self-doubt. The lamp piece was purposefully made to be larger than the doll, seemingly an imposing figure, upon the presence of a greater presence.