Makiko Ryujin — 'Ephemeral Blue' Sculptural Installation, 2025

Ephemeral Blue is a large-scale spherical installation. The piece is comprised of 156 strips of radiata pine that have been individually formed, burnt at each end and then hand-dyed using Japanese indigo. The piece is a contemplation on the preciousness and beauty of fleeting moments, and the associated feelings from these moments that resonate for a time afterwards - the time during dawn and dusk. In a sense, the work is a compilation of beautiful moments culminating in the overall final form. “Each element is just one strip of wood, but all together they become more meaningful…the little parts matter, every part matters. Everything matters.”- Makiko Ryujin.

Ryujin chose to work with indigo for its cultural connection to Japan, her home country, but also for its ability to create gradient and in turn allude to movement and the passing of time. The artist has used radiata pine – an ordinary material that is widely accessible, used for construction and given little aesthetic regard. Here, Ryujin celebrates pine as a material, placing it at the forefront of the work, the dye highlighting its features and grain and reestablishing its deserved value.  

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Makiko Ryujin is a Naarm/Melbourne-based artist and woodturner working with timber to create sculptural objects, vessels, installations, and lighting.  Her practice is informed by her Japanese heritage and draws on the cultural burning ritual, 'Otakiage' – a tradition she observed as a child. The ceremony is rich in symbolism and acts as a collective demarcation of time with the opportunity for plans to be reborn. For the artist, including this burning element in her practice allows her to work alongside and embrace fire’s transformative nature. 'The fire assists the wood in transcending beyond what an artist can do and pulls nature back into the creative process.' Ryujin completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Photography) at RMIT before studying woodworking with mentor Carl Lutz. Ryujin has exhibited locally and internationally and is found in both public and private collections. In 2020 Ryujin collaborated with Michael Gittings on a piece commissioned by the NGV and presented in the 2021 Triennial exhibition.

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In The Making

9 August – 20 September

The act of making is at the heart of conceptual exploration in contemporary craft practice. "Process" can be understood as more than a means to create form but also a space where thought is reconciled, and where creative encounters and new discoveries are found.

In The Making presents the work of four makers traversing this space and demonstrating how process and artistic intention are interdependent. The exhibitors have each honed a distinct material practice, from woodworking and stone-carving to electroplating and textiles, working with their chosen materials as autonomous collaborators, alive with history and spirit.

The exhibition speaks to the heart of what it means to be a maker. It highlights the reciprocal and responsive relationships between the practitioner, the application of craft-based skills and the creative expression that is articulated through materials. It’s all in the making.

Read more about the exhibition here:

Material: radita pine, indigo dye, steel wire

Dimensions: 2.4 x 2.4 x 3m