Hammering is the foundational gesture in the work of Manami Aoki, the youngest artist featured in the exhibition Japon, Murmures et Matières (Japan: Whispers and Materials). In her series Hair of the Wood, she soaks pieces of hinoki in water, then patiently hammers them until the compressed fibers are released. Under the repeated blows, the wood comes apart into flexible strands and begins to resemble flowing hair.
A Predilection for Hinoki
“The idea came to me in 2017, when I was a student at Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, during a workshop exploring accidents led by Dutch artist Beppe Kessler,” Manami Aoki explains during our first meeting over coffee at a Tokyo hotel. She had noticed that the edge of her wooden mallet was beginning to fray because years of use had softened its fibers. This accidental transformation revealed the expressive possibilities of wood and led her to hinoki, a soft, straight-grained cypress composed of long, relatively parallel fibers, free from knots or changes in direction. From then on, it became her material of choice. When Manami Aoki hammers the wood, its fibers separate and spread in a supple, even manner. She continually adjusts the resulting form. Hinoki also has a lingering, subtly citrusy and woody fragrance that is highly prized. For the artist, its scent is associated with the baths she visited as a child with her grandmother.
A Silent Dialogue
Manami Aoki then untangles the fibers using a handcrafted brush fitted with needles before smoothing and “styling” them. This combing does more than organize the form: it evokes the attentiveness involved in caring for hair. By untangling the fibers one by one, the artist enters into a silent dialogue with the wood and gradually develops an increasingly profound affection for the material: “My inner restlessness sometimes translates into the material, while a calm approach allows the fiber to open more harmoniously.” At the end of this slow process, the compact wood becomes an airy, tactile, and shifting material. It reveals a previously unsuspected fragility and presence. Without directly referencing Japanese traditions, Manami Aoki’s work nevertheless resonates with some of them, as hair holds an important place in Japanese visual history. During the Heian period, long, lustrous black hair was part of the ideal of feminine beauty. The same was true during the Edo period, when it was held in place by kanzashis (elaborate combs and hairpins).
As it develops a patina, hinoki makes the passage of time visible: like a living being, it changes slowly, bearing on its surface the traces of all it has experienced.
Learn more about my exhibition “Japan, Stillness & Substance” (“Japon, Murmures et Matières) at Sotheby’s Paris held at Sotheby’s Paris from October 1–6, 2026, as part of Parcours Bijoux 2026, and explore Jewelry in Japan.
Opening talk (registration required) on October 1, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at Sotheby’s Paris, with three of the artists in attendance : Mariko Sumioka, Shinji Nakaba, Aya Iwata.
