The Koi of the Japanese Gardens

Symbolism of Perseverance

Koi fish are renowned for representing perseverance, inspired by their ability to swim upstream against strong currents. They serve as a powerful reminder to overcome life’s challenges.

This panel began with a memory from my journey to South Korea, where I experienced both deep sorrow and immense respect while visiting the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. Beautiful gardens and sculpted trees led us to the resting place of hundreds of fallen soldiers from many nations, each laid to rest beside their comrades. Encircling the grounds was a long, quiet river, home to small shoals of golden koi.

Golden koi are sacred, rare, intelligent, gentle, and peaceful, a perfect presence in a place of remembrance and rest.

I stood beside the koi river at twilight, when the water deepened to near-black and seemed to erase its own surface. In that half-light, the fish appeared to drift through emptiness, their scales catching what little light remained like floating embers. I wanted the mosaic to hold that hush, that moment when movement becomes more suggestion than fact, and the boundary between fish and shadow blurs.

Each tessera is hand-cut from pure gold-leaf glass, allowing the natural fractures to dictate the geometry of the scales. The background is a jigsaw of black shards; irregular gaps create the illusion of ripples and depth without a single wave being drawn. By hinging the composition on three koi arcing in a slow, vertical spiral, the eye is invited to travel upward, as though following a hidden current.

While working, I reflected on the koi’s place in folklore, creatures that swim against waterfalls until they become dragons. Fixing them in glass is my way of capturing that resolve mid-journey. I hope viewers feel a quiet pull toward perseverance, and an understanding that even in the darkest water, a flicker of gold can chart the way forward.