What is Suiseki?
Japanese "Suiseki", the delicate and traditional art form, represents much more than art - it also represents a process, a feeling, a relationship between the object and the viewer. Read some of the definitions we have gathered from our friends in the Suiseki world:
Suiseki are stones that suggest mountains, lakes, waterfalls and other natural scenes or that are aesthetically pleasing in shape and texture. They represent nature in the palm of your hand.
Suiseki are small, naturally formed stones admired for their beauty and for their power to suggest a scene from nature or an object closely associated with nature. Among the most popular types of suiseki (pronounced suu-ee-seck-ee) are those that suggest a distant mountain, a waterfall, an island, a thatched hut, or an animal.
Collected in the wild, on mountains and in streambeds, and then displayed in their natural state, these stones are objects of great beauty. They are also sophisticated tools for inner reflection that stir in all who see them an appreciation for the awesome power of the universe.
Explained in a simple way, the suiseki is the comprehension and the appreciation of nature through a stone, resulting from nature.
Suiseki (Sui = water, Seki = stone) is the study and enjoyment of naturally formed stones as objects of beauty. The art of Suiseki involves the collection, preparation and appreciation of unaltered naturally formed stones. These stones are found in mountain streams, on windblown deserts, along ocean beaches - anywhere that nature may have deposited or shaped them.
A suiseki has the capacity to represent with the eyes of the man, on a few centimeters, the whole earth and cosmos.
The result of scaling and reproducing an awesome mountain landscape into a well-balanced suiseki is so visually pleasing, inspirational and mind refreshing. It's every collector's dream to someday find the perfect Stone, to create the perfect miniature landscape. Perfection is always the next Stone and the dream lives on.
...and the dream lives on.
Please explore our website for more insight into suiseki and other forms of the art of stone appreciation. We welcome you to sign our guest book and share your thoughts.
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