Olympic Fire - “Love every single moment of your life.” - featuring Western Calligrapher IZUMI SHIRATANI

Concept

I have been searching for the meaning of being born an artist in Japan, and at the age of 42 I met sumi-e, or black ink painting, which came with Zen Buddhism from China 800 years ago.
Since then, I have a renewed appreciation for the richness of Japanese culture where all infinitely accidental and unique expressions in ink painting and calligraphy are created with brush, ink, inkstone, and paper, all of which are made from natural materials, and how they are seamlessly interwoven into daily life. I feel it is my mission to pass down this tradition to future generations, and by copying paintings by old masters such as Itō Jakuchū I learned ancient techniques of brush strokes and ink tonalities and internalized emotions of the artists. With this in mind I continue to explore sumi-e’s new expressive possibilities that can only be achieved in our time.
As a Japanese artist, traditional Japanese culture that is deeply rooted in Zen flows through my creativity. With respect to all living things on Earth, I paint them as my subject to illustrate the importance of learning from nature.