"piece #2" Shinagawa Aika April 2012, 4 - April 16, 2012
Venue: Art Gallery T+
Date: December 2012, 4 - January 16, 2012
Exhibitor: Ai Shinagawa (4th year, calligraphy course, art major)
Exhibition of small calligraphy pieces
T+review
There are six calligraphy pieces lined up in the gallery. They are all different in shape and color, and each of the six pieces is framed in its own unique way. This way of display seems to lack unity to fill the limited space of the gallery. However, strangely, there is no sense of chaos. When you look at the works again and sense the artist's attention to each piece, you realize that the entire gallery is filled with an atmosphere of cherishing "calligraphy."
The size of the pieces is chosen to be effective for the letters and sentences written on them. The materials on which the letters are written and the brush strokes used are also carefully selected and ingeniously used. These multiple ingenious techniques incorporated into each work enhance each other's effects, strengthening the individuality of the letters.
For example, the character for "sakura" is written in a light gray color, and the character is full of movement, like a petal dancing in the wind. Also, "飛" is written in deep, solid black ink, with each stroke being written powerfully, as if the stroke is firmly planted. It is written on vermilion paper with white paper placed on top, giving it a firm look.
What is apparent from this attention to detail is that the artist does not see characters as inorganic, but as organic elements of expression with potential. The artist seems to value the Japanese language and approach it sincerely. For the artist, characters are not just symbols that convey information. Characters, which tend to draw attention only to the semantic information they convey, are remade by the artist into something that can stand alone and have its own individuality.
The author, who approaches letters with such affection, feels almost like a mother to the letters. (Emiko Okano)
