This sculpture, titled Spiral of History, was created in 2024 in Turkey by Japanese sculptor Yasushi Hori.
Artist: Yasushi Hori. He is a renowned Japanese stone sculptor whose practice explores fundamental questions of human origin, destiny, civilization, and humanity’s relationship with nature. His works often employ elemental and spiral forms to express transformation and the passage of time.
Title: Spiral of History.
Material: White marble.
Location & Date: Created in Turkey in 2024.
Concept & Theme:
Spiral of History presents a monumental human-centered composition carved from a single block of white marble. Multiple human figures emerge from and disappear back into the stone, their bodies intertwined with a continuous spiral surface that winds around the sculpture. Rather than depicting history as a linear progression, the work suggests an ongoing cycle in which generations, civilizations, and human experiences continuously emerge, transform, and return.
The figures appear at different positions along the spiral, evoking successive stages of human existence and the transmission of life from one generation to the next. Their interconnected bodies emphasize that individual lives are inseparable from the larger continuum of humanity. The repeated spiral grooves surrounding them create a sense of movement, suggesting the passage of time and the constant evolution of civilization.
At the summit, the broad circular form creates a distinctive visual culmination, while openings through the upper section introduce light and sky into the composition. This interplay between solid stone and empty space reinforces the idea that history is shaped not only by what remains, but also by what disappears and transforms over time.
Through the contrast between the purity of white marble, the expressive human figures, and the dynamic spiral carving, Spiral of History reflects on human origins, continuity, transformation, and the cyclical nature of history. The sculpture invites viewers to consider humanity not as a collection of isolated generations, but as an interconnected journey unfolding continuously through time.
