Kyōsei – Godai Kokū (Symbiosis – Five Cosmic Elements) brings together bamboo and earth, two materials whose qualities appear to be opposed: one flexible, light and organic, the other dense, cracked and mineral.

The earth used by Tanabe Chikuunsai IV comes from Awaji Island, which holds a special place in Japanese mythology. According to the Kojiki, Japan’s oldest historical and mythological chronicle, Awaji was the first island born from the union of the creator deities Izanagi and Izanami. Its origin lends the work an additional symbolic dimension, echoing the myths surrounding the creation of the Japanese archipelago.

The Japanese title explicitly refers to the Godai, the five great elements of Japanese esoteric Buddhist cosmology: earth (chi), water (sui), fire (ka), wind (fū) and void (kū). Rather than simply representing these elements, the work evokes their balance and interdependence.

The central void, an evocation of kū, structures the composition as a space of circulation, transformation and breathing.

Through this work, Tanabe Chikuunsai IV gives sculptural expression to the concept of kyōsei, offering a vision of the world in which natural elements do not oppose one another, but participate in a shared cycle of creation, transformation and rebirth.