By Jack Levy

This stone, found on a mountainside in northern California, immediately reminded me of Japanese Doha stones in that it appears to consist of a flat plane (or plain) with a mountain in the distance. The analogy is heightened by the "snow cap" on that distant mountain. However, in this stone, I see the deconstruction of the smooth and rounded forms of a typical Doha and the reconstruction of an abstraction of that form having straight lines and clearly defined angles. Thus, the natural forces that created this stone appear to have done in three dimensions what humans have done as an experiment in two-dimensional art, beginning over a century ago: i.e., Cubism.

It is frequently said that we should let a stone "tell us" how it should be displayed. To me, this stone called for an atypical base, which like the stone itself, would be characterized by planes and angles. I, therefore, tried to extend the "somewhat vertical" surfaces of the stone into the base. A perhaps fortuitous consequence of this extension and of the shape of the bottom of the stone is that the surfaces of the stone are mirrored both in the base and in the stone plus base combination. This of course, only happens because the bottom of the base is flat. Also, in keeping with Analytical Cubism, the colors of the stone and base are subdued and neutral. The name "Cubiseki" for this stone reflects the above fusion of art forms. This stone has not been cut and is 20.3 x 10.2 x 15.2 cm.