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).
Ⅱ The air of Kumamoto
Next, I’ll talk about why I started drawing pictures in the first place with a few anecdotes from my childhood.
My grandparents were living in Kumamoto Prefecture; so, from my earliest days, my mother would take me off to their home in the country. In Kumamoto, there is a range of gently sloping mountains with sweeping plains, and when we looked down on them from an airplane, it appeared to be as if an ocean was spreading out below us. Every time we returned to their home, in my imagination I felt as if I was on a ship setting sail across the ocean.
Moreover, any mention of Kumamoto brings to mind Mt. Aso, and I feel the powerful pulse of the earth in that place. The crater of Mt. Aso is connected to the earth’s core, from which molten lava, the hot blood of Mother Earth, is spouting. The earth is so alive. You can vividly feel it in your whole body.
