Pod

Pod depicts a seed pod — likely from a tropical tree or vine native to Southeast Asia — rendered at a scale that emphasizes its structural form. Kiggell's attention to natural objects in the landscape treats such subjects with the same weight as architectural or figurative material. The curved, taut geometry of a seed pod presents opportunities for precise carving and for the exploration of surface tension through controlled bokashi washes. Figures in relation to the pod suggest either a human context for the natural object or a meditation on scale. The translucent layering of water-based pigment on washi achieves a quality of light within the form that distinguishes mokuhanga from oil- or solvent-based printmaking.