Bruna Kim Oshiro
São Paulo, Brazil
https://www.instagram.com/bruna_kim/?locale=pt_BR
https://brunakim.wixsite.com/website

materia
2023
Wood
9.84 x 8.07 x 3.93

Artist Statement

The word “materia” comes from the romans’ attempt to translate the greek term “hylé” into latin. Hyle means wood, and the word “materia” must have designated something similar. However, when the greeks used the word “hylé”, they were not thinking in the generic sense of the term, but were referring to the wood stored in the carpenters’ workshops. For them, it was about finding a word that could express opposition to the concept of “form.” (FLUSSER, 2007)

I chose “matéria” to title this book because I think that, like the greeks, materia (something near to “raw material”) is what we get from nature and give form, inform, transform. I was surprised and happy that the word is linked to wood. Which is this material that has invited me to approach.

The images in the book come from classic illustrations of anatomy dialoging with pictures of hands of two craftsmen (a woodworker and a blacksmith). Also some words were engraved into the pages, these word are connected to the handwork and our relations with the tools.

The book have ten pages, some of these has fold or turn mechanisms, inviting to interaction.

The idea of a woodbook surrounds me because I am a printmaker and woodworker. I have been studying artist’s book and wood for a while. With “materia’ I could find a way to express my admiration to the wood and to the craft, through the tools.