Cedar Tree – Tofuku-ji Zen Temple, Kyoto

A series of 8 triptychs of a cedar tree shot from the same vantage point, from sunrise to sunset throughout the same day at Tofuku-ji Zen Temple, Kyoto. The work is from the project series, one taste: (n)ever-changing (2003-2009) and is informed by Williams' ongoing interest in nonduality in the context of Buddhist temples and wider aspects of Japanese contemporary culture.

'Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness.' The Heart Sutra

The rigid formalism of these images is designed to connote the dialogue between nature and culture, permanence and change, form and emptiness... Williams has created these triptychs by isolating the sections of each image to the left and to the right of the tree trunk and reproducing these scenes as the flanking panels. But, in each case, the section that sits to the right of the trunk is reproduced as the left hand panel while the section to the left of the trunk is presented as the right hand panel.  The linear progression, the sense of time unfolding, is made to turn back on itself so that present, past, and future become one ‘(n): ever-changing’ thing.’
Tom Normand Portfolio #3