The River Series
Eight hundred years ago, the Japanese author and poet Kamo no Chōmei wrote:
The flow of the river never ceases,
And the water never stays the same.
Bubbles float on the surface of pools,
Bursting, re-forming, never lingering.
They’re like the people in this world and their dwellings.
Fish never stop swimming. Bubbles on the surface of water never stop forming. Whatever we are experiencing will never stay the same—things change. I find a sense of hope in that reality.
The River Series is a collection of paintings made in the Nihonga method, which involves pigments and crushed stones mixed with a binder on washi paper. The literal translation of Nihonga is "Japaneses painting."
As a Japanese immigrant who left my home country too young to fully understand my own culture, learning traditional art methods like this and Mokuhanga printmaking from local practitioners in Japan became a way for me to reconnect with my heritage and cultivate a deep sense of cultural pride.
The river series is inspired by my memories of Yasu river in Shiga prefecture, Japan. The river runs right next to Wakamiya Shrine. The shrine was a special place for my family, and we repeatedly visited it when I was young.
