One example of his works that represents the essence of these Japanese aesthetic is Tuna for Sashimi “N”. It is a sculpture of a tuna is made from stone. The sculpture was inspired by Japanese daily life and popular culture.

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As you can see from the picture, the tuna’s upper surface has texture that is meant to represent tuna sashimi being coiled. There is no sense of symmetry in the placing of each coil hence created a very organic look towards the fish.

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This perhaps was the artist efforts to portray the concept of wabi-sabi which is beauty in imperfection. And its relatively small scale and material of the sculpture arguably creates a sense of humility. And the fact that he chose a tuna as his subject matter further emphasize that point.

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Buddha Protected by Naga Muchalinda

WhatsApp Image 2016-08-28 at 19.28.35Cambodia, 11th – 12th CE, sandstone


This statue’s size is roughly half of a normal human size. Another thing to note is that the statue is roughly symmetrical.

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Left (left), back (center) and right (right) views of the statue

We can identify the centre figure in the statue by Buddha because of several characteristic: the body pose which is the sitting Buddha, the mudra hand gestures, top knot on his head, the elongated ears, the flowing robes (pants) and the fact that he has no jewellery on him. It is interesting to note that this Buddha is smiling.

WhatsApp Image 2016-08-28 at 19.28.05(1)Buddha is smiling

The creature on the back of Buddha is a Seven Headed Snake. As you can see at the picture the size of the heads differs. The top centre one is bigger than the rest and it is looking the same direction as the Buddha, whilst the others are looking towards the centre serpent head.

WhatsApp Image 2016-08-28 at 19.28.05Closer detail of the serpent’s scales

The Buddha is sitting on the Seven Headed Snake’s body. The Seven Headed Snake’s body is coiled three times. The scales have been intricately carved to further emphasize that this creature is some type of lizard. The scales are also present at the back of the statue. This might accentuate the fact that this statue is supposed to be viewed 360-degree view (except for the bottom). Other that scales, on the chest and on the back of each of the serpent’s head we can see a circle motive which can be used to further identify the identity of this creature or perhaps it is used as decoration.

WhatsApp Image 2016-08-28 at 19.28.05(3)Closer detail of the serpent’s heads

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Selfie time! Oh look he’s smiling too!