Tanaka Migiwa

2018.6.15

I think the fascinating point of suiboku (ink wash) paintings is encouraging the dialog between the strong images in my mind and the spontaneous events arising from the sumi (black ink).

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How could I express this overwhelmingly deep red? My body felt that no shade of red would ever completely express its depths. Basically I used charcoal for sketching ‒ because clouds are forever changing and charcoal allows quick drawing to capture their forms ‒ and at that time, looking at my colorless charcoal sketches, I had an idea that monotone makes it possible to grasp the scene I felt with my heart and all five senses, and not just the things captured only by my eyes.

Then, I tried to paint pictures in monotone using only sumi, which I used in those days for rough sketching ready for color painting. By so doing, I also came to think the unpredictability of bleeding and running of sumi ideally matched the spontaneous play of water, wind, and shadow. An interesting point of sumi is that its unpredictability represents manifestation in the natural world, but it is not good if I am totally dependent on this effect, and I think that a fascinating point of suiboku (ink wash) paintings is encouraging the dialog or play between two factors: one is the strong images in my mind developed through repeated daily sketching, and the other is the spontaneous events arising from the sumi.

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