This substantial woven form, measuring almost 50 centimetres in height, is a compelling example of the experimental approach to basket-making taken by Tanabe Chikuunsai IV (1973-), who has recently succeeded to the fourth-generation headship of one of Japan’s leading family of basket-makers. Rising from a heart-shaped base, it has rounded corners and irregularly undulating sides that taper upwards to a low peak from which and from below which the woven bamboo strips of which the piece consists twist downwards and outwards in a fluidly knotted configuration. Both the lighter internal and darker external surfaces of the bamboo strips are visible, the subtle patterning this provides being enhanced by the surface marking of the tiger bamboo (torachiku) the artist has used. The ‘Aun’ of the title of the piece means alpha and omega and is the Japanese equivalent of the Hindu mantra ‘Om’ or ‘Aum’.