Take the Pebble is a series of conceptual sculptures by Akane Takayama. These are works of fine enquiry and a persistence of engagement with weighty subjects. The idea of ‘Taking the Pebble’ comes from an ancient Buddhist story in which a wanderer along a beach is entreated to take a pebble of great beauty before the wave washes it away. This allegorical tale talks about opportunities in life and how it is important to seize them before they are beyond our reach. Takayama manages to translate this life lesson into a series of insights about the life of human beings.

There is something challenging in the work Take the Pebble. Takayama brings in a variety of motifs she utilises and thus connects her output consistently both physically and intellectually. A stunted tree representing male impotency, a turtle representing the fertile mother, erect tanks espousing male sexuality and Kiki de Montparnasse as woman liberated, all combine and sit upon the heavy, cold stone which is all but immortal. These large pebbles have been sought out, chosen, selected with deliberate purpose to provide the foundation of thought for the passing ephemeral issues of our lives.