Intent to Act No.1, 2021

Mike Sasaki   Emerging artists

Space is the primary theme of this piece, with the wood material "giving way to its presence" and "allowing the space to give shape to it". The sense of balance created by the freestanding geometry is also an integral aspect of the piece.

I picture the integration of Intent to Act No.1 into a peaceful interior decor which likewise carries the theme of "spacious or invisible potential energy".

The sculpture's title refers to a feeling of spaciousness from which the intention to act arises. This idea implies the existence of a peaceful and restful field from which motion is made manifest. There is a type of action which is based primarily on thought on the one hand, and there is a different kind of action, on the other hand, which arises when the mind is quiet. The latter type is commonly referred to as insightful or inspirational.

The piece is carved from air-dried yellow cedar. The off-white, creamy coloration takes deep shadows allowing for a wide variety of lighting options.

A poem I wrote which was inspired by this form in wood:

The hesitation was there;

The human mind, so complex——

The immediate action

Of the crow or the king fisher——

The greater intervention, however,

Does impart a purifying stream

To trickle through the mind's

Valleys——

The clean stab into water,

The fish firmly clenched,

The bird alike dripping heavily——

Inspired we are to Act,

So swift in movement,

Involved completely

With place and others—

Carrying with our motion,

An opening, an absence,

Neither dictating intent,

Nor sleeping, but awake,

Totally—

The stillness of a sculpture,

The silent motion therein,

Human abstraction,

Metaphorical expression—

In contemplation,

The abstract reflects

The omnipresent truth,

The never flinching

Fire.

MS21