Enjoy Japanese Folding Fan works celebrating Meiji Jingu by Japanese Contemporary Artists

The literal meaning of the expression “shikansuiyo” (紫幹翠葉) is “purple trunk, green leaves”, but it is used to refer to a beautiful scene from nature. Since prehistoric times, the Japanese people have prayed in thanks to the spirits of the mountains and forests, and that attitude forms the basis of the traditional Japanese relationship with nature. And it is not only in the symbolic Mt. Fuji or cherry blossom that beauty is to be found, but in the humble everyday nature of rice fields, wild flowers and birds, as well.For this exhibition, the forty participating artists have prepared their works with particular thought for the shrine and its sacred forests, and with a passion, awe and respect for nature and our daily lives. The media chosen for their works are the traditional Japanese forms of folding screens, hanging scrolls, partition screens (paintings) and folding fans. A centerpiece of the show is the fan-shaped paintings exhibited together along one wall, which were commissioned from thirty contemporary artists, renowned for both their skill and talent.

Takanori Ishizuka makes drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations of cute animals characters made of things and events that cannot be seen. His works are interwoven with comical, eccentric animals are highly prized around the world. Ishizuka was surprised by a photograph of the construction of the Meiji Jingu Forest depicting people carrying a large tree. That surprise has been molded into the form of animals carrying a giant tree. The work questions what it means to “make a sacred forest”. 

The small animals of the forest, the eternal time that flows there, and the beauty of severity of nature. Sakae Ozawa’s work crystalizes that in a uniquely colored work. The strength of her style grew after her time studying in Vienna. Recent work includes collaborations with writers such as Kaho Nashiki, Kazushi Hosaka and Megumi Fujino, with Ozawa bringing a richness to their work. Putting her thoughts to the 100 year old man-made forest, her fan-shaped painting depicts the forest containing a multitude of stories.

Takahiko Kaino has worked on series based on repeated geometric patterns, and series that investigates the wellspring of light, and he currently works between Tokyo and Matsuyama. He also works with local area to get people involved in art and create works together with them. The work for this exhibition has been executed with extreme care, and the pure sensitivity that it achieves holds a clean beauty.

This work is a sun print photograph taken during the soft light of the rainy season over the course of a whole day in the artist’s parents garden, which they tender each day. The image obtained appears depending on the strength and concentration of sunlight, and the same image can never be created twice. Perhaps it is that moment of luck and the irreplaceable instant obtained that we treasure. This work reminds us, amid the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, of the aesthetic that has been protected by the sacred forest over one hundred years, and should be protected for another hundred.

“Light is what leads me to the condition of experiencing the thing called existence.” These are the words of the artist, Takanobu Kobayashi. This work shows a clearing in the sacred forest. The element of light, so important to the artist, is seen illuminating the scene. Using the forest as a motif for “what can be seen”, or “what has form”, in fact the work describes a different “something” that is beyond our vision.

Nozomi Tanaka’s work looks at how the sacred forest was constructed with a hundred year vision, and using the artist imagination goes beyond time and space to depict the forest far in the future. In the future, as the earth warms even more and much of Japan has sunk into the ocean, what will the eternal forest look like? Perhaps the forest will be at the bottom of a warm ocean inhabited by all kinds of creatures, creating an entirely new kind of coexistence.

The beauty of layered colors, a unique palette and the paint flowing slowly in submission to the earth’s gravity - the pleasure of this painting hits you directly. One of its uniquenesses lies in the fact that the layers of color never mix unintentionally, so the colors remain fresh. The work imitates the “light and color at the boundary of life and death” that the artist has investigated over recent years, expressing how the Meiji Jingu Forest was constructed with two dimensions, the ancient style of rocks and trees in the inner gardens, and the outer gardens born of exposure to the west in the Meiji period. 

Taishi Hatayama’s works gathered attention due to the minute white brush marks he arranges on the canvas, which came about from this interest in that which is invisible within a scene. From there, he progressed to a brightly colored series that made one think of bouncing light. This work uses a delicate texture to express the atmosphere and presence of the decades-old trees the artist felt when he stepped into the sacred forest. The work expresses the artist’s sense of the power and divinity of nature.

Kozue Hibino is well known for her work as a costume artist in advertising, theatre, dance, ballet, film and TV. Her work for this show has become a fan-shaped leather bag. Hibino says “The civilization and culture man has created will in an instant return to the earth.” Hibino has taken this thought and using the sacred forest has transformed it into a work that resembles a bag. 

Originally the Japanese believed the gods resided in mountains and rocks, trees and the ocean, and made them the object of worship. Particularly, the worship of large rocks is found across the country. In this work, Kota Hirakawa paints a place he found while mountain climbing that he felt was a place for the gods, and he depicts a characters that connect nature and man. And in addition, it is a bird’s-eye view of Meiji Shrine. In the same way that you can find nature worship in Chojugiga animal cartoons or Chinese-style Sansuiga landscape paintings, the work makes us think on contemporary society’s relationship with nature.

Misa Funai is also exhibiting a sculpture in front of the Treasure Museum. Working on the boundaries of two and three dimensions, her work uses as its motif the offerings of sacred horses and ema tablets. For this work, Funai says “The Meiji Jingu Forest is layers of space and time, a symbolic place allowing one to move between the past and the present, from the imaginary world to reality.” Her work is a ‘prayer’ made of layers of past and present pairing styles, empathizing with the people who built the forest 100 years ago, while imagining it in the future. Salvation, and hope for a future we cannot yet see is held within this work.

Kumi Machida paints her subject with ink lines, using traditional Nihonga techniques and Japanese paper, sumi and natural mineral paints with large areas of white space. This work expresses how precious the man-made forest is to the city, and how its survival, too, is in man’s hands. The power of Machida’s work often lies especially in the strength and beauty of the lines, but it should be mentioned that they are not drawn in a single stroke, but rather built up from a multitude fine details, showing how precisely the artist controls the space of the painting. 

This work depicts a bat, such as can be seen at the Meiji Jingu Forest in the evening. The Chinese character for bat is made up of the characters for “insect” and “luck”, and bats have been a symbol of good fortune in Japan and Asia since ancient times. The folding fan itself symbolizes the spread of wealth, so together with the bat this image is filled with a mood of blessings. Depending on the angle you look at the picture, the bat can disappear into the sumi ink, suggesting a bat flying at night. Painted in sumi ink and silver, the colors remind one of a cool summer evening.

Ai Yamaguchi uses motifs based on Edo period culture and customs, and Japanese art styles such a Rinpa, mixed with the contemporary styles to produce “bijinga” images of women, employing sensitive and supple lines. The title “misohitomoji” is another name for tanka or waka poetry. The work translates the individual words of poem into human figures. A Waka poem is written around the edge of the piece. The words are taken from the Meiji Jingu Omikokoro fortune slips, entwined like ivy or grasses. Be sure to look at the edges of the piece.

This work depicts bubbles joined in a helical form, each a memory of a trivial event in the life of someone dear, now lost. The artist’s large scale works made in salt fill a space with his thoughts for the departed, with the salt acting as a kind of purifying agent, as well. The whirlpool is an ancient image of strong life and rebirth, and a widely used symbol for eternity. The salt installations garner art fans from around the world. His carefully drawn salt images of the strength and transience of human life offer us pause for thought as we enter a new era.