Materials: Washi paper, pigments
Exhibition location: ESPACIO Nagoya Castle – Houoh Staircase (1st floor)
Mizuha (Renatas)
This luminous blue is created using shifuku-zuri, a technique that combines fine stippling with tarashikomi, in which pigments are allowed to blend naturally. The pigments are built up through thousands of delicate applications made directly with the artist's fingertips. Concentric circles symbolize the continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth, expressed through flowing energy and waves of light. While rooted in a millennium of karakami tradition, the work opens new possibilities for the craft, expanding it into the realm of contemporary painting.
Senda Choemon
A master karakami artist, Senda Choemon is known for developing Toto Blue, a distinctive body of work created through his own original techniques. Inspired by the spirits and deities of Japan's yaoyorozu tradition, these works present a poetic visual world centered on an extraordinary shade of blue. While carrying forward the legacy of Japan's only karakami workshop with an uninterrupted history spanning more than 400 years, he continues to reinterpret karakami as contemporary art. In 2024, following the succession of the family name, he assumed the name Senda Choemon.
