spirituality - lesson 23: george nakashima

george nakashima in his workshop

trees 'a tree is perhaps our most intimate contact with nature. each tree, each part of each tree, has a destiny, its own special yearning to be fulfilled.'are one of mankind's most powerful symbols. they appear in many religious literatures and histories across the world. by some the tree is believed to have an abundance of divine creative energy. forests have been the home to priests and shaman, and even churches.on a scientific level, a tree provides us with oxygen, cleans up carbon dioxide, it hosts a wealth of wildlife and provides food. from a mystic point of view, a tree is deep rooted and steady, it is reaches up to the heaven and to the light, it is the junction of earth water and air, it is still and silent, epitomising the practice of meditation. george nakashima (1905-1990) the japanese-american woodworker was internationally known for his innovative furniture designs as well as his meditative architectural interiors. he believed that to be intimate with nature, in all its dimensions is one of the greatest experiences of life. he followed the forms of nature, he let them speak for themselves by listening to the way in which the wood piece wanted to be crafted. trained as an architect, he traveled as a young man to india to supervise the building of part of an ashram, or hindu monastery. the spiritual influence of the ashram led him to rethink his life. george nakashima was dedicated to embracing the principles of unknown craftsmanship and respect for the natural world. he worked continuously to spread messages of peace through his designs. the world's first hippie that's what nakashima called himself. he was a hindu, catholic and japanese shaker druid. he was influenced by the arts and craft movement, windsor, shaker and modernism. nakashimas oevre was proof that different mindsets and backgrounds can get along and work together in harmony.

george nakashima with wood for the peace altar, for st. john the divine, 1980s, photography by jack rosen, courtesy of james a. michener art museum, USA

george nakashima, 1957, photograph by jack rosen

tissue paper with nakashima's name and address in pencil, to be burned into his finished pieces as his signature.

conoid bench

bench with spindle back

the george nakashima reading room, designed by his daughter mira naskashima-yarnall

this coffee table with unfinished edges illustrates nakashimas unique style

walnut long chair with one free-edge arm

creative process 'man can participate in this world of the silent nature. to take part is to join a creative process.'nakashima had a clear goal. he intended each piece of furniture he made to be as perfect as possible. first, proper wood had to be found. initially he used local wood, sometimes from his own property. later, he traveled to seek out english oak, persian walnut, african zebra wood, and indian teak. he especially liked to find giant roots that had been dug out of the ground after a tree was taken down. nakashima felt that making this wood into furniture was a way of allowing the tree to live again.he once thanked frank lloyd wright for teaching him what not to do, ... nakashima, whilst living and working in a western culture, very much followed an eastern tradition in his work, especially when it came to the practice repeating forms. he shed any egocentric need to continually produce new shapes, instead opting for a more humble process. it is through repetition that one can begin to grasp the nature of form, like students of art copying the works of masters. it is through this process that nakashima became a master craftsman. take heed of the humble, be what you are by birthright, there is no room for arrogance (soetsu yanagi) most furniture makers prefer perfect boards. instead of forcing the wood to become man-made in form nakashima let the forces of nature guide him. this does not mean he simply polished a slice of wood, stuck it on some legs and hey presto it's a coffee table. no, each piece of wood was acquired through, what he felt was serendipity and would be carefully joined with angle-cut legs and edges. butterfly and dovetail joints were left exposed, in his own interpretation of the modernism movement. nakashima was accepting of every imperfection in each piece of wood, believing that you must be inclusive of these faults to create perfection - the dynamic beauty of irregularity. his work is subtle and dignified,

capturing the ideas of 'wabi' and 'sabi' - attenuated definitions of light and shadow that override color and decoration. family as the years passed, nakashimas reputation grew, and his work received many awards. his children, mira and kevin, joined the team of craftspeople in their fathers studio. nakashimas dream of integrating work and family had come true. world peace tables 'we have become so basically disoriented with our blind faith in science and technology without spirituality, it brought us to our pit of madness (...) it is a question of surrender. a surrender to the divine consciousness to end in a most beautiful aura of love.' in 1984 the workshop of george nakashima had the opportunity to purchase their largest piece of walnut yet. the tree trunk was a phenomenon; measuring 1.5 metres in diameter at the small end and 2.1 metres at the flare, the whole piece being 3.6 metres long. nakashima felt that this magnificant trunk was calling for a noble cause, and that their one true destiny was in the creation of a symbol of peace. his dream was to turn the immense surface area as altars for peace. the altars would be made for each continent and would become symbols of peace and a point for meditation and prayer. he believed that they could lead the way to better understanding across the world. the first alter was installed at the cathedral of st. john divine in new york city in 1986. he had intended a second table for russia since 1984, but only in june 2001 it could be placed in the russian academy of arts in moscow. (made from the same monumental black walnut tree as the first.) the third nakashima peace table was destined for auroville, india in february 1996. read a biography on george nakashima here read the designboom interview with mira nakashima-yarnall,designer, daughter and apprentice of george nakashima here