Janette MacKinlay

Artist Statement

Organic Assemblage -  Roots and Inspiration

My organic assemblage is a fusion of my lifelong interest in contemporary art and design skills I have obtained by 14 years of study with Soho Sakai in the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.

Ikebana, the art of Japanese Flower arranging spans 600 years and today there are hundreds of Ikebana schools.  The Sogetsu School was established in 1927 and has elevated Ikebana from an attractive craft to a creative art. The name is a combination of the Japanese characters for “Moon” and “Grass”.  The name suggests a deep feeling for nature and a deep appreciation of the vastness of the universe.  

The Japanese theory of flower arranging has a philosophy which brightens, colors, and gives life to our environment. Sogetsu School Ikebana uses flowers as forms and  is stringently particular about the form created by the union of plant, container, and water. Practitioners are meticulous about the relationship between lines and colors created by the spatial arrangement of the plants and the positioning.  

Sogetsu School of Ikebana believes that anyone can arrange Ikebana anywhere and with anything.  The basic techniques are taught by instructors with the use of textbooks consisting of 80 lessons.   I earned my teaching degree in 2001 and since then, two advanced teaching diplomas.

In 2006, after studying Ikebana for over a decade I decided to challenge myself to create Ikebana arrangements without using flowers and other fresh materials.  Instead I turned to the beauty and simplicity of materials from nature that were dried, and could be more permanent.  The term “Organic Assemblage” best describes the simple and dynamic collection of sculptures that emerged.

Much of the collection has been my self-prescribed therapy for my post-traumatic stress that was a result of my experiences as an eyewitness, survivor, and displaced resident of the attacks of September 11th, 2001.