Artist Statement
Since my early childhood I have had a great fascination, love and interest for Japanese history, art, culture, spirituality and philosophy. I have found that over the years this interest has found it’s way into my life and work. I believe that one salient characteristic of Japanese art and culture, for example, is the emphasis on Ma, this is a space or interval. In the Classic No plays a small hand drum is struck; this beat is followed by silence; then the drum is struck once again; that beat is followed by silence; and so on. This Ma, the interval between the beats of the drum, which is very characteristic of Japanese music, is not related to the pause or rest found in Western music. In Japanese music, even when there is no sound, something vital remains. To the Japanese, Ma is not simply just an empty space, where nothing exists: it is the space or interval that is necessary to give shape to the whole.
With my new paintings and sculptures I am exploring the previously mentioned ideas along with my interests of Japan, bringing them together, in a hope, not to fill empty space but to give shape to the whole.