Japan’s Consul General, Mr Masataka Tarahara, with the Consul for Political and Economic Affairs, Mr Atsushi Inoue, are to visit Helensburgh’s Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed Hill House on 20th October.

They are coming to see an exhibition which is currently underway at the historic house.

This is Lyrical Abstraction 2 – an exhibition of contemporary stone sculptures by Japanese sculptor Hironori Katagiri and Scottish sculptor Kate Thomson.

The pieces on display were created especially for this exhibition, as part of a programme of events for Japan UK 150 which celebrates 150 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and the UK. The sculptures were inspired by Mackintosh, who has a huge following in Japan.

Property Manager Lorna Hepburn says: ‘We are greatly honoured to welcome such esteemed guests to The Hill House. We know that Japan was a key influence on Mackintosh and his work. We are lucky here to have and to care for some fine examples of this – like the stunning ‘kimono’ cabinet’.

The two artists, Hironori Katagiri and Kate Thomson, will give the Japanese guests a personal tour of the house and the exhibition which opened in August this year, as we reported.

Katagiri’s work is pure abstract form, finding the essence of philosophical concepts that concern us all and creating space to contemplate the world and our place in it.  Inspired by Hill House, Katagiri has made a new series of highly polished ‘Streamline’ Diabase and black granite sculptures, echoing the maritime context of the site. These refer both to art deco and to futurist styles, taking his work in fresh directions.  Even his small sculptures seem to provide space, creating the mind changing experiences of a  Zen garden.

Thomson’s work is abstracted from the human form and landscape, exploring relationships in physical, cultural and social space.

Inspired by Mackintosh’s ability to bring light into his interiors, Thomson has made a new series of onyx sculptures designed to act as ‘houses for light’. These explore the concepts behind Celtic key patterns – one of the sources for the art deco style – and their similarity with key patterns in ancient Greek, Aztec & Ainu art. They are then translated into three-dimensional space, exploring the extent to which our ancestors understood the delicate balance between order and chaos in nature and society.

Before and after the visit of the representatives of Japan, the two sculptors will be meeting the public and taking workshops for local schoolchildren.

On 18th October both sculptors will give guided tours of Hill House explaining their interpretations of Rennie Mackintosh’s use of space, light and art; the Japanese influence on his work and his influence on Japan; and the ways in which the sculptures made specially for this exhibition were inspired by him.

On 28th and 29th October, Thomson and Katagiri will hold workshops for local school children at Hill House.  Sculptors and architects both work with space and light, although they may use very different materials, the essential difference in what they create is one of scale.

The children will tour the house and the sculpture exhibition and then work with folding, cutting  and constructing card to explore forms that catch the ambient light and reflect it inside the small scale ‘architecture’ or ‘sculpture’ models they create.

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