Yanaka, the part Tokyo where I live is a temple town. The name, Yanaka, translates Middle Valley, though half of Yanaka is on a hill. This makes for many little roads leading down. The locals don’t much name the roads but they name every slope. This is from the top of SansakiZaka, Three Slopes Slope .
ink painting
Painting everyday /
Two and a half months to paint everyday
The more I paint, the rougher it gets, and the better I like it.
Mujina zaka, 2020
Outer moat around the castle, 2020
Why paint? Why ink? /
A group of 8th graders came to my studio for a school project. One of their questions - What do I like about ink painting? I didn’t answer clearly. I had been having a personal crisis wondering where painting fits as our culture changes so radically. It was hard to put things into words, especial with painting, which is a language not easily translated into another.
With the plague raging I have been home painting every day since. It has reminded me why I like ink painting.
A good ink painting does not tell you what to think or to see. A good ink painting allows you, required you, to create meaning. It is like a zen puzzle. It is not didactic. There is no answer and none the less you create it.
This sort of abstraction has not been mainstream fashion here for five hundred years. There are no bright or pretty colors. No sound. It doesn’t move. You can’t push buttons to get points.
It is silent., still, and only has the meaning that you can bring to it.
Enoshima