Tsukubai (Waterholder) 1962

This 'Tsukubai' or waterholder was created by Noguchi Isamu, but we don't know exactly when. Imagine Isamu, thoughtfully selecting this hunk of granite. The rough, mottled stone reminds me of the surface of a painting, thick with texture and incident. He must have thought about how water would sit in the hollowed centre. A perfect circle reflecting the sky! I can imagine Isamu thinking about gardens he’d visited, the way the stone might sit amongst the pebbles, how the moss might grow on it. He probably thought about Brancusi, too. They both like to strip things down to their essence. Noguchi’s forms feel grounded. He was always looking for a way to connect art with life, like the way water connects us to nature. It reminds me that artists are always in conversation with each other, trading ideas, and opening new ways of seeing.