The bonsai passion of Andrija Zokic
Bonsai was just a hobby for Andrija Zokic till he came across Walter Pall’s trees on the internet. Things took a different direction from that moment.
Your professional education?
I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts as a Master of Sculpture and then as a professor of fine arts.
How did it all start?
I did bonsai as a hobby and I didn’t see it as art. Bonsai was interesting to me then because I had an additional reason to stay in nature and search for yamadori, which was something that relaxed me. I didn’t think then that one life lasts long enough to make an interesting bonsai. The really big trigger to fall in love with bonsai was when I first saw Walter Pall’s trees on the Internet. In my eyes, his approach was radically different from all the artists.
I had seen up to that point. His choice of materials, choice of pots, the way he designed the trees and whole philosophy was the trigger for me to start seriously dealing with this art. I was impressed by the realisation that it is possible to create a serious work in just a few years. The philosophy of a natural style is something that I accepted very well and I found it was compatible with my understanding of art and its connection to life.
How did you acquire the skills?
My teacher is Walter Pall. And the most important lesson I learned from him is that bonsai can be a true art inspired by untouched, wild nature.
Any plans to go to Japan?
I have no plans to go to Japan and learn from the Masters. I appreciate Japanese culture and their contribution to bonsai art, but I think the West is more exciting and inspiring at the moment.
I am creating trees from trees
Andrija Zokic
Your thoughts on bonsai?
Bonsai is an art, a living sculpture. The medium for making the work is not, for example, clay, as is often the case in traditional sculpture. But it is a living tree, and the motif of the work is also a tree, which is why I claim that I am creating trees from the trees. As in the works of land artist, Andy Goldsworthy, time is a crucial element in the work, both as a medium and a metaphor.
A bonsai artist does not make a sculpture that aspires to be eternal in space, but it cooperates with nature and, from it, learns about its strength and fragility.
Any other interests or hobbies besides bonsai?
I like photography, sometimes video. When choosing which major subject to go to in art high school, I was torn between photography and sculpture. I chose sculpture and learned about photography on my own. Also, before I entered high school, I was thinking about whether I should enter an agricultural school, or an art school and I chose an art school. In the end, bonsai brought it all together because it is a combination of sculpture, and horticulture, while the photography is fun and a welcome additional element.
Which trees do you most like to work on?
I love Carpinus orientalis because of its characteristics. It is a species that is
autochthonous in Croatia and is excellent for bonsai due to its specifications. Some consider it among the best material in the world that is suitable for bonsai. As yamadori raw material, orientalis often has excellent and interesting nebari. The trunk is full of character, as are branches, leaves and the internodes are small.
You have a favourite bonsai?
My favourite bonsai from my personal collection is a large Carpinus orientalis named Monarch. It is a work that looks like an old, mighty tree standing lonely in a meadow next to a forest. My favourite bonsai in the world is the Japanese white pine ‘Higurashi’, that I saw for the first time twenty years ago and which really made a huge impression on me.
I have always avoided copying their style
Andrija Zokic
Your worst mistake?
Some ‘mistakes’ that caused me much pain later turned out to be good decisions, so when it comes to mistakes that are the consequences of shaping bonsai, it can be a very misleading term. The biggest mistake, of course, is to kill a tree and I’ve killed lots of them. It’s not easy to let go of something you’ve become very attached to and invested much love and energy in, that’s why it’s a great school of life. There is no other way for a bonsai person to become tough without going through that process.
What is your best achievement?
It means a lot to me that bonsai artists, whose work I highly value, recognized my work as high quality. I am very grateful to them for that, as well as to anyone whose heart is touched by my work.
Your dream comes true when?
My dream is that bonsai is my full-time job and that I share this love with other lovers of nature and art. I would also like to see a reawakening of the local bonsai scene.
Do you favour the Japanese or Western bonsai style?
I’ve always been a big fan of the Western bonsai style, maybe because it’s at least subconsciously influenced by Western art, which has an incredibly rich history and is closer to my heart. It is exciting for me to follow the progress in the West, which is evident in the last twenty years. It seems to me that Japanese bonsai has reached its peak and is now stagnating somewhat.
It is obvious how Japanese bonsai is influenced by Japanese art from painting, calligraphy to architecture and wabi-sabi philosophy. A big advantage of Japanese bonsai is that it has a longer tradition, and at a high level. I can’t escape the fact that Japanese bonsai was an inspiration to me, too, but I always avoided copying their style. We know that Japanese art was a great inspiration for some great Western artists such as Van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin, and yet they never copied, but created their own authentic styles that influenced the entire history of world art.
Andrija Zokic (45)
- Born in: Split, Croatia, 1978
- Education: Masters degree in Sculpture.
- Profession: Art teacher and bonsai artist.
- Into bonsai since: 2005.
- Favourite species:: The Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis).
