Unbridled

The Portland Japanese Garden sits perched above a city that exalts weirdness. Cradled by a grove of old-growth Doug firs, it is a haven of tranquility and order — an attempt at capturing the purity of Japanese art & culture.

And yet, this exhibition was loud. It was bold—the antithesis of serenity with a fitting title. ‘Unbridled’ held space to examine a dynamic transition — from what is expected to what is possible. It represented a moment of shock melding into inspiration— the impasse between a preformed ideology and experiences intended to break those mental models.

"Unbridled held space to examine a dynamic transition — from what is expected to what is possible."

While the art carries a legacy of curated forms, echos of a highly controlled culture, the shapes of this show were born of untamed landscapes and expressive individualism. It forced the hegemony of an ancient practice to stand trial, exploring the tension between upholding tradition and evolving a more honest, personal reference from which to create bonsai.

In the exhibition, four wooden structures faced into a gravel pavilion, framed by towering Doug firs and a Fuji-esque Mt. Hood in the backdrop. Large angled wooden beams, held by powder-coated steel brackets, framed the bonsai situated on a stand seemingly folded by various wooden planes.

There was a necessity to focus the viewer into the tree. The frames were influenced by the design of a camera shutter, which quite literally folds to close in and capture a subject. With the visually cluttered setting, the functional purpose of these structures was to dynamically draw you closer to the work.

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"The shapes of this show were born of untamed landscapes and expressive individualism."

"The frames were influenced by the design of a camera shutter, which quite literally folds to close in and capture a subject. "

The symbolic function of these structures served as a portal through which you could cast off preconceived notions of what this art is, or should be, and experience the work in isolation. They were an offering to engage in a postmodern thought experiment, challenging ‘objective’ or ‘correct’ modes of artful communication through this unique living medium.

The stands upon which the bonsai sat were a play on origami — a nod to legacy. They served as the settling piece for the displays, a subtle metaphor for the ground upon which this artform was built.

They slightly temper the audaciousness of the rest of the design, illustrating the potential to respectfully take cues from classical crafts — melding with and enhancing the more avant-garde components of a show.

"This work is about catalyzing and harnessing that sense of awe about nature — and ourselves in relation to it."

Serving as the focal statement, each tree was pointedly chosen: all native North American species rarely utilized as bonsai subjects. Aesthetically, they were styled in more asymmetrical, rough hewn forms, while also demonstrating advanced technical execution — a novel way to present highly refined bonsai.

While the garden subliminally seeks to shelter its visitors from the eclectic urban dynamism and foreboding volcanic landscape shaping the region, this exhibition reframed the context to highlight these influences, not as distractions but elemental components to experiencing the art. Unbridled inhabited the divide between a contrived sanctuary and the writhing wildness of both culture below and nature beyond. It was anything but calm; impactful art is rarely comforting to behold. This work is and will continue to focus on catalyzing and harnessing a sense of awe about nature — and ourselves in relation to it.

Credits: Venue - Portland Japanese Garden, Photography - Arthur Hitchcock, Cinematography - Ryan Bush